Armored vehicle obtained by UPD can 'make neighborhoods safer'

UTICA, November 18, 2009 -- An armored vehicle purchased by the Utica Police Department could be the next big step toward eliminating crime in some of the city's hot spots.

Modeled after a program used at the Peoria, Illinois Police Department, the vehicle was purchased from Brinks Inc. for a $10 donation this month, said Utica Deputy Police Chief Mark Williams.

"We looked into this about three or four weeks ago," Williams said. "We made some phone calls to different buinsesses in Syracuse, Rochester and Albany area and found that the (Brink's) Albany field office had a truck they were looking to be commissioned. If couldn't donate it, they'd have to scrap it."

Williams said the idea initially came to him from Common Councilman James Zecca a few month ago. Zecca presented information about the armed vehicle concept's success in Peoria. Out on the streets since just over a year ago, Peoria police dubbed the vehicle the Armadillo. Its technical name is Nuisance Property Sureveilance Vehicle.

"The idea was to put this big obnoxious presence in the neighborhood so there was a constant police presence there," Williams said.

Peoria police said they had tried in vain to eliminate the presence of drug houses in the city, at the price of a patrol vehicle being destroyed. The police chief one day afterward had a realization of the potential of an old armored vehicle sitting in the parking lot -- received as a donation years earlier, and after some modifications, the Armadillo was born.

"The chief of police came up with the idea, and really it was kind of a fluke that we did it in the first place," explained Nuisance Abatement Officer Beth Hermacinski. "We use it for everything from quality of life issues to drug investigations and it's worked for us."

Now, police departments all over the U.S. are considering similar possibilities, and Hermacinski, keeper of Peoria's Armadillo, thinks this is a good thing that's catching on.

"We've been getting calls from across the country and what we're finding is that all of these places are finding new creative ways to do it so that it works with their area and their department," she said. "I think it is a source of pride. It's been so effective that we've come up with a second one, and it should be ready soon. We're just waiting for it to get painted."

Zecca said he thought the idea was something that would benefit the police and the public.

"Not only for the sake of the unit, but for public awareness and helping troubled neighborhoods," he said. "I'm really excited about it. It's not going to solve crimes but it'll certianly be a deterrent. And the best thing about it is it requires no additional manpower. You can leave it there unmanned and it's still doing its job."

Williams said from Peoria and other police forces that have tried similar programs, he learned that where the armored vehicle was parked, a drug dealer would leave the house less often for fear of being caught on tape, and the customer base dried up because people didn't want to risk arrest.

"They started going elsewhere because they didnt want to be seen," Williams said, adding that police calls to those areas went down with the armored vehicle's presence.

Williams said sometimes it can be difficult to drive out drug dealers from a neighborhood. The process of obtaining a warrant is not always a speedy one. There needs to be proof the person is selling drugs out of the house, he said, which can involve sending people or officers undercover to make buys in the house several times to establish probable cause for the warrant.

"The thing to keep in mind about this is it's not all going to be a long-term solution to crime," Williams said. "But it does give immediate relief to neighbors who live in that area. We can brag all we want about crime going down in Utica, but when you live in a neighborhood when there's a presence of a drug house you don't care what those crime statistics are. You could also use the argument that your vacating crime to another area, but at least it makes our neighborhoods safer."

Williams looked into what mechanical and body work would have to be done to the armored vehicle to get an estimate of how much additional funding would be needed to put it  on the streets. It already has assets like bullet-proof glass, and can sustain itself even in significant force. Cameras would need to be mounted from the inside looking out from each direction, Williams said. Also a protective foam would be placed in the tires to prevent deflation, and likely, other details would include netted metal screens over the lights of the vehicle.

Zecca said he and residents and board members of the local Homeownership Center Board applied for a $3,000 grant through the Homeowners Association to try to defray some of those costs.

"Half the Common Council didn't want to spend the money on buying (an armored vehicle), but when we brought up the possibility of getting one donated, everyone jumped on board," he said. "Some of them suggested getting volunteers, business sponsors and possibly even listing sponsorship on the vehicle."

Councilman Frank Vescera said some of his constutuents expressed an interest in a public safety center after the success of the Thomas M. Lindsey Public Safety Center on James Street. But the costs of one oin every district just weren't feasible.

"They got us thinking of alternatives, and this unit came up in research," Vescera said. "The predominant concerns are for safety and security, and this allows us to have the police coverage without having to provide the manpower. It's been done successfully in other cities, and this will cover certain aspects of safety in the city. Even though it's not a physical officer, it's an imposing presence -- it's a very positive police presence."

Williams said the police department doesn't have a time frame yet of when the armored vehicle, which doesn't have a name yet, will be ready to go out on the streets. That depends on how long it takes to refurbish the machine.

"It'll be maybe $3,000-$4,000 in costs to refurbish it so it's worthy and presentable to the public," Williams said. "We will explore some avenues to equip the vehicle with little cost to the taxpayers."