Halifax police taking delivery of Canadian armored truck in 2020

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The Halifax Regional Police will take delivery of a new armored vehicle come spring of 2020, a decision that’s stirred up some controversy, Global News reports.

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.

The New Glasgow, N.S. police force decided they didn’t need their armored vehicle after owning it four years. The 10-ton vehicle with rotating turret was provided to the town free of charge as surplus from the Canadian military, but the police chief said “We really have not had any use for that since we’ve had it.”