Want to know how Hamilton police used its $279K armoured rescue vehicle? It'll cost you over $5K

Hamilton Police Services (HPS) has had a 15,000 pound "armoured rescue vehicle" at its disposal for 10 years.

It first hit the streets in June 2013, police said at the time, to evacuate people from extreme situations, protect officers from gunfire, help in off-road situations and move obstacles.

The truck, which cost taxpayers $279,180 and stoked debate about if it was really needed at that cost, has also been used at community events.

But despite using the custom-built vehicle for almost a decade — and being asked about its use in the past — HPS says it has never created a system to track how often the vehicle was deployed, used, where it was used and why.

CBC Hamilton filed a freedom of information request for those details, along with maintenance costs since 2012.

The HPS freedom of information unit said, based on its interim estimate, the vehicle has made at least 1,000 trips, but doesn't have an exact number.

And among those trips, it's unclear how many times the truck was actually used. It's also unclear how many times the truck was used in extreme situations versus training, community events or at the gas station for a fill up.

HPS said it would take 10,000 minutes of work and cost $5,060 to get details on those 1,000 trips  — and the service added the true cost of the request could be much higher given the vehicle has probably been deployed over 1,000 times.

CBC Hamilton is appealing the interim decision by HPS through Ontario's privacy commissioner.

Policing advocates and researchers say the response from Hamilton police raises questions.

"This is all an excuse," John Sewell, a member of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition and a former mayor of Toronto, said. "Surely they know how often that vehicle has left the garage."

Why didn't police track the vehicle's use?

The HPS freedom of information unit said the service didn't track the data because it never had such a request before.

Back in 2014, CBC Hamilton asked about how many times the truck was used in 2013, but was told HPS didn't have the numbers ready.

Glenn De Caire, the police chief back at the time, declined to answer any questions about it on Wednesday.

HPS didn't provide an interview and spokesperson Jackie Penman didn't directly answer questions about why the data hasn't been tracked.

Penman said the truck is "regularly deployed" and last year, police put roughly 2,000 kilometres on the vehicle.

It's unclear exactly what the 2,000 kilometres entails, but Penman notes it includes training.

She also said HPS has spent $60,490 on parts and labour on the vehicle, including an engine replacement.

Researcher says lack of info raises questions

Kevin Walby, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg, said he thinks HPS would likely have a "simple log" with info on the truck and it shouldn't cost thousands of dollars to get the information.

"Every bullet … is numbered, tracked," he said. "I find it pretty hard to believe deployment of this vehicle would not be."

Walby said if they haven't made a log of the truck's movement "the only other answer is it's a complete waste of taxpayer dollars and it was just a toy they bought for which there is no use."

But Walby thinks that isn't the case because he thinks there is a log of the truck.

"If they want us to believe this is the last stack of paper in Canadian policing, I think that tells us something about what Hamilton police think about journalists and the public," he said.

Pat Mandy, HPS board chair, said Thursday morning she hasn't heard anything controversial about the truck.

"I'm not quite sure why it's coming forward right now … there's lots of special vehicles," she said.

Mandy said there are "millions of things we can ask about" and said if there were concerns about the vehicle, the board would ask HPS.

"I understand it's very useful for the safety of public and officers," she said.

What else do we know about the vehicle?

The truck was made by Terradyne Armoured Vehicles, a company based out of Newmarket, Ont.

HPS previously used a refurbished 1969 Brinks truck.

Hamilton police aren't the only ones with a truck like this. Police in Toronto, London, Peel, Durham, Ottawa and other Canadian cities all have armoured vehicles.

Terradyne's website includes the following specs about the truck HPS has:

• Engine: 6.7 L V8 turbo diesel. 300 HP, 660 lb-ft of torque
• Transmission: 6-speed automatic
• Driveline: 4x4 shift on the fly. 4.88 ratio limited slip differential
• Fuel capacity: 40 gallons
• Speed: Tires on the vehicle are rated for speeds of 110 km/h
• Weight: 15,000 pounds