19 Aug New Glasgow has one, too — Updated
Yesterday I wondered why small town police forces in the US thought they needed mine-resistant armoured vehicles. This morning I marvelled that Keene NH, pop. 23,409, had asked for and received a Lenco Bearcat (Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck) to protect its annual pumpkin festival from potential terrorist attacks. In an update this afternoon, I discovered that Ottawa Police have a Lenco Bearcat of their own.
Now thanks to an alert Contrarian reader with Pictou County roots, I know New Glasgow Regional Police have obtained a Canadian Forces surplus Cougar Light Armoured Vehicle. That’s it pictured above, with Emergency Response Team members from New Glasgow, Stellarton and Westville.
(The guy in the wool trench coat on the right is not a tact squad member, much as he might like to be. Peter MacKay, MP for Central Nova, was Minister of National Defence when the surplus unit was donated.) *
When the acquisition became public in March, 2013, police spokesman Const. Ken MacDonald admitted he couldn’t “recall an incident where we’ve needed a vehicle like this in the past,” but he was pretty sure it would come in handy in the future, “as a defensive tool, in case we need to go into a hostile situation to rescue fellow officers or victims.”
When local residents derided the acquisition on social media, MacDonald defended its utility to the New Glasgow Evening News:
There is a slew of situations [it would be used in], but overall, it would be used to evacuate or rescue citizens, transport officers to a dangerous situation that they may need to get into, transporting them from a dangerous situation that they may be in, for example different types of gun calls, different types of situations that endanger not only the public, but the officers as well. This is added protection for officers that happen to go into a dangerous situation or from a dangerous situation and also added cover and safety for rescuing members of the general public….
We live in a very safe community. Our community is safe, but the reason why we have an emergency response team, the reason we have an Armoured Vehicle General Purpose is solely due to the fact that it is resources that we have at our disposal. We have them there in case we need them.
You get the sense there’s some equipment envy going on in Canada, as police here look across the border and see their US counterparts acquiring vast stores of military weaponry. MacDonald again:
It’s not a new thing. Police Forces across North America have them at their disposal. When the time comes when we require it, it is going to be a very, very valuable benefit.
Windsor, Ontario, also snagged a Canadian Forces surplus Cougar, and MacKay told the Evening News Cape Breton Regional Police had also requested one.
[UPDATE] Police spokesperson Desiree Vassallo said CBRM never obtained a Cougar. “There were some discussions,” she told Contrarian, “but nothing came of it.” The CBRM website says its Emergency Response Team, “uses Chevrolet Suburban vehicles, as well as an an armoured vehicle that can be used to rescue injured civilians or officers,” but Vassallo said this unit has been with the force since before amalgamation in 1995. She did not know if it was military surplus.
Just by the way, the website also lists, “MP5A3 9 mm Submachine Guns, Remington 700 bolt-action Sniper Rifles, Remington 870 Shotguns, Diemaco C8 Carbines, X26 Tasers, Pepper spray (OC Spray) and Tear Gas (CS Gas), Rubber Bullets and Bean Bag Rounds.”
C’est la guerre.
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* [Update] From Contrarian reader Bill Turpin:
Even the dog knows it’s a stupid idea. It clearly doesn’t want to be in the photo. The good news: New Glasgow is armed and ready to fend off amalgamation.