Pictured is the Ballistic Armored Tactical Transport (BATT) that the City of Marysville is looking to buy from The Armored Group, LLC. According to a presentation from officials at Monday’s finance committee meeting, the $241,300 vehicle will be paid for with the police department’s trust fund and the city general fund.
(Photo submitted)
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The Marysville Division of Police is about to get a big addition to its fleet of vehicles.
City officials presented plans to purchase a Ballistic Armored Tactical Transport (BATT) vehicle to the city’s finance committee Monday, which unanimously voted to recommend it.
“It’s not a tank, it’s not a military vehicle, but it is a ballistic shield,” said Deputy Chief Bo Spain.
Officials also presented it to the public safety committee earlier that day, which unanimously supported it.
Spain spoke to the committee about the vehicle. He is the head of the department’s Special Response Team (SRT), which would be the main group using the vehicle.
Spain said The Armored Group, LLC, of Michigan, manufactures the vehicle.
“It’s designed to be used in critical incidents and rescues,” Spain said.
It’s designed around a Ford F-55- chassis. Spain said it’s diesel powered, can withstand weapon fire and can drive through more than 30 inches of water. The BATT is also capable of holding 10 to 12 people.
In an email, Spain stressed the importance of the potential new vehicle.
“The impact this vehicle will have in regards to the safety of officers, medics and citizens alike is crucial to the success of our mission,” Spain said.
Finance Director Justin Nahvi said the vehicle will cost about $241,300. To pay for it, about $166,300 would come from the police department’s trust fund, made up of confiscated money from criminal cases. Also, about $75,000 would come from the general fund. As new money is added to the police trust fund, the general fund would be reimbursed.
Spain told the committee about a recent incident where the BATT would have come in handy. On July 2, the city got a call from the sheriff’s office to request assistance from the city’s SRT executing a search and arrest warrant on Watkins Road. Spain said they knew the suspect had been doing meth for about two weeks, and he knew he was armed.
“Here we go on this mission and we do not have any protection,” Spain said. “The only protection we have was afforded by the suspect who had a dump truck in his driveway.”
That incident is part of a larger problem Spain said the police department is dealing with. He told the committee many heroin users are switching to meth.
“It’s not the same meth that you used to see where they would go buy Sudafed and make it. This is actually coming from the cartel,” Spain said.
Spain said meth is “an entirely different beast.”
“These people are up all hours for days on end, they’re irritable, they’re aggressive,” Spain said.
Spain said the last three search warrants carried out by the SRT have involved meth, either distributors or addicts. In all three, the suspect had access to firearms.
In his email, Spain said, “We are dealing with people who are desensitized to violence, impaired by narcotics and have a fascination with firearms.”
Fire Chief Jay Riley commended the police department for requesting the BATT. He said the Fire Department provides the SRT medics that go out and help the team.
“We can’t treat them well hiding behind a dump truck, or hiding behind a tree,” Riley said.
He said being able to get injured officers in a relatively safe vehicle makes it much easier to treat them.
“This vehicle will save lives,” Riley said. “The bad guys are becoming more armored.”
In the past, the city has used Franklin County’s armored vehicle. Spain said the last time Marysville borrowed it, Franklin County had a mission at only two hours after the city’s. Franklin County still lent the vehicle, but Spain said the city had to complete its mission quickly to get the vehicle back to Franklin County.
“Which didn’t leave any time for if something fell out of our plan, or went awry,” Spain said.
Committee member Nevin Taylor asked Spain what the chances are that other municipalities will request the city’s BATT.
“Then we’ll be indisposed,” Taylor said.
Spain said places like Franklin County and Delaware have their own armored vehicles. He said the city is in a tough spot because it’s on an “island” where it has to wait for that kind of help to arrive when requested.
Riley added that if places like Richwood or Bellefontaine requested the city’s vehicle, it would be a chance to prevent drugs in those places from getting into Marysville.
Officials said even if the vehicle were lent out, it would be Marysville officers operating it.
The team’s current vehicle is a repurposed medical vehicle that Spain said isn’t suited for combat situations.
“There’s nothing in here that will provide protection,” he said.
Assuming the city purchases the BATT, the older vehicle would be shifted to the city’s dive team.
Spain said the vehicle would have other uses, too. He said it could be used during flooding or other natural disasters.
The main use, however, would be for dangerous situations, and Spain said the vehicle could diffuse situations by simply showing up.
“This type of vehicle is a force multiplier,” Spain said. “It shows up and it says, “We’re here for business, and we’re not playing around.’ Most of the time, they give up and they just come out.”