Local law enforcement and officials joined in celebrating with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department on Friday as the department unveiled a new armored vehicle to help keep deputies safe.

 

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle is a 40,000 pound, 11-foot, 3-inch tall vehicle previously built for the U.S. Military in 2008. It has a number of features to keep its occupants safe, including bullet resistance, as well as biological and chemical resistance.

 

“People might ask, ‘Why do you need that,’” Sheriff Ward Calhoun said. “Well, we need that because there are times, we’ve already in the last year, twice, called for surrounding counties to come and aid with their vehicle in situations where we felt like it would be an asset to have the available.”

 

Purchased through a Law Enforcement Support Office program, a federal program that makes surplus federal equipment available to local and state agencies, the MRAP can be used to safely get deputies into a position or to safely get them out when needed, Calhoun said.

 

“Several sheriff’s departments and police departments in the state of Mississippi already have those, and in the past we’ve had to depend on our neighbors to come and help us,” he said.

 

LCSD has been talking about the need for such a vehicle for four or five years, Calhoun said, and has been shortlisted to get one several times before the MRAP was sent to a different city. About two months ago, the department was told it was again in the top three along with New York Police Department and Chicago Police Department.

 

“And so we went to Pasco County, Florida, and picked up this MRAP from them, where they’ve been using it since 2013,” he said.

 

Paid for by seized funds, the MRAP cost the county $10,000.

 

An MRAP is not a tool that is going to be used every day, Calhoun said, but it is a good to have when needed. And, as other departments have helped out his deputies, LCSD’s MRAP will also go to support neighboring law enforcement agencies when needed, he said.

 

“We’re excited to have what we have here,” he said.