Several Lower Mainland city police departments, including Port Moody’s, will be buying an armoured vehicle such as this one.

TRI-CITY NEWS FILE PHOTO

When Port Moody Police officers approach an armed, barricaded suspect in the near future, they’ll have some heavy-duty protection.

Along with municipal police departments in New Westminster, Delta and Abbotsford, PMPD has struck a deal to share a bullet-proof BearCat. The armoured vehicle costs about $322,000 and will be used by the Municipal Integrated Emergency Response Team (MIERT).

“It’s been used extensively in the United States and its main role is to protect operators from high-calibre bullets,” said PMPD Const. Bill Kim. The vehicle will be called into service when emergency tactical teams are sent to a situation where officers must be in close proximity to a suspect.

Kim said the BearCat is a prudent purchase because it will offer greater protection and give police officers more options when dealing with a dangerous suspect.

“We’ve had the proliferation of gang members with shootings and barricaded suspects with high-powered rifles,” he said. “Port Moody is no longer a stranger to that. Just look at our past history with Dennis Karbovanec and the Bacon brothers.”

Karbovanec and Jonathan Bacon, both members of the Red Scorpion gang, lived in Port Moody briefly in late 2008 and early 2009. Both were targeted in previous shootings in Metro Vancouver but none were in the Tri-Cities. Karbovanec is now in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in the Surrey Six slayings while Bacon has sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on a trial for several gun and drug charges.

Significantly larger cities like Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa have BearCats or similar vehicles but Kim said places like Port Moody aren’t immune to big-city violence.

“We’re being very prudent and looking ahead, and using this piece of equipment as a preventable tool for something that could happen,” he added.

Delta Police Chief Jim Cessford told the Delta Police Board that whatever vehicle is chosen will have to be a smaller, multi-purpose design that can quickly cover the distance between the different communities that own it and navigate their streets with ease.

Kim added that getting the vehicle between cities will operate under much the same conditions that MIERT members do when they are called to various locations throughout Metro Vancouver, saying the travel time will be minimal.

Kim did not have details on the agreement between the four cities but information from Delta indicates that city will be paying $96,600, or $25,000 a year over five years including maintenance, fuel and insurance.

RCMP in B.C. share two recently purchased six-wheeled tactical armoured vehicles obtained from the Canadian Armed Forces. Coquitlam RCMP have access to one through the Lower Mainland District Emergency Response Team.

The BearCat models, produced in the U.S., are popular because they are built on regular truck platforms and are less expensive to operate than military-spec armoured cars.

Unlike ordinary police cars and trucks, the basic BearCat models can handle hits from most small arms fire. They have a top speed of 120 km/h and a tight turning radius.

– with files from Dan Ferguson, Black Press

spayne@tricitynews.com