CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department has already put a new crime fighting tool to use. The department is the proud owner of a SWAT armored vehicle. It was used on Monday during the police standoff with Charleston attorney Mark Bramble in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood.
The $276,000 heavy-duty, bullet-resistant, 4-wheel drive was purchased with funds from the Kanawha County Commission.
“It has armor sufficient to stop most commercially available ammunition that a member of the public would have,” explained Lt. Keith Vititoe, the head of the county’s SWAT team.
Other features include a battering ram, remote controlled cameras and bullet resistant windows.
“If we feel gunfire is going to be involved, then this is a great asset to have because it’s a huge rolling shield that we can use to put between either the public or our team members or other first responders and where the problem is coming from,” according to Vititoe.
The department put the armored vehicle to use during the Bramble stand off. Vititoe said it was the perfect scenario.
“We drove it up and put it in a blocking position in front of the house. The marksman observer who was in the turret was able to cover all the windows on the front of the house which relieved responsibility of some of the other officers on the perimeter,” said Vititoe. “We were also standing by to use chemical munitions if necessary.”
So far members of the SWAT team have been trained how to use the vehicle. Eventually at least one person on every shift will also have the know-how to roll it out at a moment’s notice.
The quarter-million dollar plus price tag may seem a bit steep but Vititoe said when you do the math it adds up.
“How much does a human life cost? That’s the question you have to ask. But it has the potential over a 30-year service life to save more than just one.”
Vititoe said now that the armored vehicle has been purchased, there’s not a lot of upkeep.
“We fully intend for this to be a long-term investment. It has a commercial, off-the-shelf chassis. The armor will never go bad. We can just pick the truck up, pull the old chassis out of it, put a new one underneath it and just keep working,” stressed Vititoe.
This is only the second armored vehicle of its type in use in the state. The other is located in the Eastern Panhandle.