Alameda Police Department to buy $174,000 Armored Tactical Vehicle

Citing a growing need for a special response/rescue vehicle to respond to emergency incidents, such as terrorist attacks, the Alameda Police Department wants to spend $174,000 to buy a Ballistic Armored Tactical Transport (BATT) vehicle to add to its fleet.

The department is asking Alameda City Council to also approve a $302,000 expenditure for marked and unmarked patrol and utility vehicles.

According to the report provided to Alameda City Council, the BATT “is a four-wheel drive vehicle that is built on a Ford F-550 Super-Duty commercial chassis and is powered by a 6.8L V-10 gas engine. The BATT comes armored in Level NIJ IV/B7 and can stop .50 Caliber rounds, giving police personnel the ability to stop the majority of threats that may be encountered. The BATT offers a six-sided, complete protection package in a very maneuverable and versatile size. The protection package includes a blast mitigating floor, internal armored firewall, rifle rated roof protection, and a fully-armored hood. In addition to these benefits, it can accommodate 10-12 geared officers and achieve highway speeds up to 80 miles per hour.”

The vehicle is manufactured by The Armored Group, LLC of Fort Worth, Texas, and, according to a federal Department of Homeland Security website, is manufactured on demand.

The additional 10 vehicles to be purchased for the patrol fleet are:

• Police Interceptor Utility, Unmarked Staff Vehicle
• 3 Police Interceptor Utilities, Patrol Supervisors and School Resource Officer
• 4 Police Interceptor Eco Sedans, Unmarked Staffllnvestigations Vehicles
• 2 Police Interceptor Eco Sedans, Marked Patrol Vehicles

The funds to buy all the vehicles will come from the Equipment Replacement Fund budget.

Earlier this year, Alameda City Council put a 30-year, 1/2 cent tax increase measure on the ballot, saying the new revenue was necessary to fund fire and police vehicle replacement. Alameda voters rejected the measure on June 5th.