After past active shooter events in the country, the Gloucester Township Police Department felt the need to invest in more proper equipment beyond just firearms.
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, at its training facility and range, the department introduced two support vehicles aimed at combating an active shooter situation.
“People always say, ‘we never thought that would happen here,’ and that’s what everybody thinks and everybody hopes, but the reality is it could happen anywhere,” said Gloucester Township Chief of Police Harry Earle.
The two custom F-250 Patrol Support Vehicles, with all of their equipment, cost the township roughly $112,000 per vehicle. The majority of the cost came from a capital improvement program, according to Earle.
Each vehicle is equipped with critical equipment for an active shooter situation, including the new portable hydraulic door breaching tool, or Hurst Law Enforcement StrongArm, which is capable of defeating hardened commercial doors and is made from the same manufacturer as the “jaws of life.”
After a brief introduction of the vehicles, officers simulated an active shooter event with the new hydraulic door breaching tool.
In addition to the hydraulic entry tool, the two vehicles are also equipped with ladders, additional weapons, a ballistic shield, ballistic blankets, supplies of pre-loaded rifle and handgun magazines, night vision equipment and tactical cameras.
Although many of its police vehicles have long been equipped with basic door breaching tools, the department saw an issue. During recent active shooting situations around the country, officers spent nearly five minutes trying to break through doors that were chained and shut by the shooter, according to Earle.
At the Virginia Beach Municipal Complex, officers were unable to reach upper floors to rescue victims and stop the shooter due to locked doors only accessible by electronic key cards, stated Earle.
“Security measures designed to protect people can greatly hamper police response if officers are not equipped to quickly defeat these necessary security obstacles,” said Earle.
According to the department, the vehicle will not just be used for an active shooter occurrence. In fact, one of the two vehicles will be on duty 24 hours every day by a patrol officer assigned to the vehicle.
The new vehicles add to a number of initiatives by the department aimed to not only combat an active shooter situation but to stop one before it is even planned.
Since 2011, through the Juvenile Unit Huddle initiative, the department has offered services and met with more than 2,400 youth who have committed an offense, made or expressed a threat or have been exposed to trauma. A national conversation has described these particular characteristics in youth as “red flags.”
Since June 2017, the department has acquired 25 firearms surrendered by residents who encounter a crisis, including an overdose, through its Firearms Possession and Persons in Crisis initiative.
“We have a crisis in America, it’s an epidemic of killing that we must do something about, and here in Gloucester Township, we are taking that action,” said Mayor David Mayer.
