Halifax Regional Police’s new armoured vehicle is expected to arrive in the spring of 2020, according to a spokesman for the municipality.
The Terradyne Gurkha MPV will cost the municipality $368,000; that sounds like a lot of money, but it’s a lot less than the $500,000 the city had budgeted for.
The contract was awarded to southern-Ontario-based Terradyne Armored Vehicles Inc. on September 23, according to Brendan Elliott, a spokesperson for the municipality.
According to HRP, the vehicle will provide a “level of safety” for the officers and the public, while helping them address the climbing number of issues they encounter. It has also stated the vehicle would not be equipped with weaponry or aggressive equipment.
Critics of the vehicle say it makes local law enforcement too militaristic, particularly in the context of being used to police marginalized and minority groups around the city.
This isn’t the first time armored vehicles have been used by smaller police departments, and the results have been mixed.
Fredericton Police Force unveil their armored vehicle in April 2018, and Fredericton’s Emergency Response Team have used it a few times. The vehicle was also deployed in August of 2018 during the fatal shooting of two Fredericton police officers.
