By Brian Livingston

blivingston@themeridianstar.com



Don’t make the mistake of assuming a certain white van resembling a bread truck is dropping off a box of Honey Buns to your house.

The reason: the men dressed in black and carrying automatic weapons won’t be delivering buns. They will be from SWAT.

Wednesday, officials with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department unveiled the latest piece of equipment they say will help them to better serve the people of the county by getting the bad guys off the streets. The equipment comes in the form of a revamped and retooled 1988 Chevrolet van rescued from the junk heap.

“There are so many people to thank for making this possible,” said Ward





Calhoun, chief deputy for the sheriff’s department. “The end result is a van that is functional and will become a vital part of the department.”

SWAT teams, and the men who make up the shock force, require an extreme amount of equipment needed to execute an operation. Calhoun said the three primary functions of the SWAT team are to assist on high risk warrants, barricade suspects, and hostage situations.

“Mobility is a must in order to get everyone and their equipment to the same location at the same instant,” Calhoun added. “Time is everything.”

The SWAT van has been a year in the making.

Gregg Guy, maintenance supervisor for Earth Grains in Meridian, had the shell of a van they could donate to the LCSD. Harris Wilder and his troops at the Lauderdale County Central Garage provided the manpower and expertise to put life back into the vehicle. A new engine and tires, and of course a new paint job complete with LCSD lettering, has effectively given the van a new future.

“We even had a donation of a generator by Woodward Steam Cleaning to help nighttime operations,” said Calhoun.

Now the two-year old SWAT team has the capacity to perform more efficiently as a team.