Oswego police take delivery of an armored vehicle; police chief says it will save lives

The Oswego Police Department recently took delivery of an armored vehicle they purchased last June.

The department paid $251,136 for the vehicle, a Lenco BearCat G-2.

Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner said the armored vehicle was included in the department’s FY23 Vehicle Fund budget and was purchased with asset forfeiture restricted funds and proceeds from the Vehicle Fund.

The vehicle will be useful in rescue operations to get civilians and officers to safety, and to transport officers and emergency personnel closer than a squad car could in situations involving active or potential gunfire, according to Burgner.

Because of the BearCat’s versatility, Burgner said each call to service will dictate the vehicle’s usage.

“It can really expedite the time you have to rescue or respond,” Burgner said. “It can really save lives.”

Burgner said ideally the vehicle won’t be needed often, but there have been recent calls of armed or potentially armed residents barricaded in their homes where the vehicle would have allowed officers to get closer to the scene in a safer manner.

Lenco is a private company based in Massachusetts that designs and manufactures armored vehicles for banks, law enforcement, military, government and private security companies around the world.

The grey, four-door armored vehicle is built on a Ford F-550 chassis and equipped with a 6.7 liter v8 twin turbo diesel engine. It can reach a maximum on-road speed of over 80 mph and should get around 10 mpg, according to the vendor.

Burgner said the vehicle came nearly fully equipped, and all that is left is to install a police radio and add markings.

The BearCat comes equipped with battering ram that can be mounted to the front, weapon ports around the sides where officers can mount their weapons from inside the vehicle, and a rotating roof hatch that can also be equipped with weapon mounts.

The vehicle can withstand several .50 caliber rounds, sustained fire from 7.62mm small arms ammunition and Nato rounds, and is impact-resistant up to 40,000 pounds.

Burgner said the BearCat will be outfitted with first aid medical supplies, and can power additional equipment when firefighters, other first responders and medical teams need to be transported to incident scenes.

The vehicle can be operated by one person, but the plan is to have at least one officer from each patrol team trained to operate the vehicle. Burgner said the more people that can drive it the better, so it can be deployed whenever a situation arises.

Burgner said there was not one incident that made police decide they needed an armored vehicle, and they had been looking to purchasing a BearCat since 2019.

Officers will begin operator training as soon as the markings and radio outfitting are complete, which Burgner said would likely be in the next two months.

Burgner said a few of his officers have already been trained on it, and it could realistically be deployed in coming weeks.

Burgner said he plans to bring the BearCat to events in the community, so residents can see it first hand.

“I want people to know what we have it here for,” Burgner said. “It’s here to save lives.”

Burgner said the BearCat will be stored in the department’s garage, and will only be operated by members of his department. In cases when other departments call for mutual aid in situations that call for heavy support, they will deploy the vehicle to assist.

Burgner said he hopes the vehicle will last 20 years with the department.