Armored vehicle will shield police

After a decade of waiting, Brooklyn Park finally has obtained a military surplus armored vehicle, something the city has sought to protect SWAT team members in dangerous situations.

After the City Council gave its approval, the free, 29-year-old Peacekeeper arrived last week, said SWAT team leader Mark Bruley. He said the armored vehicle will offer protection from handgun and high-power-rifle bullets, something police have lacked when dealing with armed suspects.

Bruley said Minnesota law enforcement agencies have about 30 surplus Peacekeepers provided by the federal Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office. Brooklyn Park applied for one about 10 years ago and had unsuccessfully sought grants to buy one. But the Pipestone (Minn.) County Sheriff's Office had a Peacekeeper it didn't use and transferred it to Brooklyn Park, Bruley said.

Other agencies with Peacekeepers include the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington police departments and the Anoka, Hennepin and Ramsey county sheriff's offices, those agencies said. Minneapolis and Bloomington police said they use their vehicles a handful of times a year.

"If there's a need, they are invaluable," said Bloomington Cmdr. Mark Stehlik. He said the city's Peacekeeper, obtained in the mid-1990s, can be used when arrest warrants are served on dangerous suspects or in cases involving armed, barricaded people.

Brooklyn Park had such a case last week , police said, just days before the Peacekeeper came to town. A masked intruder in a house pointed a gun twice at officers, who fired but missed and eventually arrested the suspect and another person.

"We would have brought it [Peacekeeper] to the front door so the officers had a good place to retreat," Bruley said. "It's nice to have that thing right there and know you can load it up and leave with them all well protected."

"Edina has the Cadillac, we have the Pinto," Bruley said.

Siitari said Edina borrowed Bloomington's Peacekeeper before the BearCat arrived in 2004. He said the new vehicle has thicker steel armor and stronger windows that can withstand very high-caliber rifle fire.

"Going into a hot zone, I'll take the BearCat over the Peacekeeper any day," Siitari said.

He said the BearCat was used during the Republican National Convention a year ago during a protest march in St. Paul, and by the Secret Service during a 2007 visit by President George W. Bush. Last December the vehicle was used in Roseville during a police standoff with a barricaded man who wounded two officers in a home and then fatally shot himself.

Since 2007, the BearCat has been used in seven cases involving armed or suicidal people barricaded in homes in Edina, Eden Prairie and Hopkins, Edina records show. Siitari noted the vehicle has been driven nearly 6,000 miles, some of that for training, since it was acquired.