Winnipeg police show off new armoured vehicle

The Winnipeg Police Service has its new armoured vehicle, and it has some community members concerned about how it could be used.

The police service showed off the vehicle, a Gurkha tactical Armoured Rescue Vehicle or ARV1, at a news conference at Assiniboine Park on Wednesday.

The service purchased the armoured vehicle, manufactured by Terradyne Armoured Vehicles, in 2015 for $342,800. It weighs approximately 7,710 kilograms, seats eight and has eight gun ports.

The police service bought the armoured vehicle with funds it secured within its own budget and notified the Winnipeg Police Board afterward.

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The vehicle is designed for "civilian-based police purposes," police said in a news release, adding it will protect service members, partners like the tactical emergency medical support unit and the community as a whole, police said. 

The armoured vehicle purchase has caused controversy, with Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt comparing it to "something you would see in Hollywood," while others argued it militarizes the police force.

"Police services everywhere, certainly across North America, are becoming more militarized," said Frank Cormier, a criminologist at the University of Manitoba.

Cormier pointed to other initiatives by Winnipeg police, including the creation of a tactical team, the purchase of the Air-1 helicopter, and plans to give patrol carbine firearms to more officers.

"The addition of a vehicle like this, the addition of a helicopter, and I'm not only talking about the Winnipeg police right now — these things are objectively, demonstrably, militarization," he said.

"There will be disagreement over whether or not that is necessarily a bad thing, but if police services are interested in, you know, the community model of policing, rather than the 'us versus them,' that will not assist with that effort.

Meant for 'dangerous situations'

Police argued an armoured vehicle would help tactical officers deal with potentially dangerous situations, such as when they execute search warrants. Officials have said that in the last two years, members have been to about 300 searches that involved weapons or had the potential to involve weapons.

"The safety of the public and the well-being of our officers is something the Winnipeg Police Service takes very seriously. This vehicle will give us an advantage in diffusing dangerous situations in the safest way possible," deputy chief Gord Perrier said in a news release. 

Officers are already training with the armoured vehicle and police said people might see it travelling in the city.

Cormier said the armoured vehicle would be extremely useful in an active shoot-out type of situation, but he questions if it's truly useful for a city like Winnipeg.

"The big question that we need to ask is what are we not spending the money on that we're spending on this armoured vehicle, and what is the likelihood that that vehicle will, in fact, save a life or save multiple lives? Because, as I said, that certainly is a possibility," he said.

"But what is the likelihood based on what we know about ... the threats to us and the risks to our health? If we're talking about saving lives, a very strong argument can be made that the money for that vehicle could be better spent elsewhere."

Mixed reaction

Jade Harper, a local indigenous advocate, said while the ARV1 can be a "really good tool" for protecting the community, she is worried that it could intimidate the public.

"I think that it has a place. I guess I'm just not entirely sure or clear on what exactly that place is," she said. "I don't know what types of situations this vehicle has been used in before."

Harper is also a member of the city's Indigenous Council on Policing and Crime Prevention, which advises the police board. However, she stressed that her opinions about the ARV1 are her own.

"If the police are going to be using this against — you know, say, if we have a community, some sort of protest … how [is this] going to be used in those kinds of instances? Those are still some questions that I have," she said.

Harper said she would like to know how similar vehicles are used in other cities that have them.

The Indigenous Council on Policing and Crime Prevention had met with police about the armoured vehicle several times prior to its arrival.

Damon Johnston, another council member, said police officers are vulnerable and need more protection, citing fatal police shootings in Mayerthorpe, Alta., and Moncton, N.B.

"I have a lot of respect for police. I would not want to live in a society without police; they are the front line," said Johnston, president of the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg.

"I think they deserve the best protection possible, especially now that there's so much change occuring in the world."

Johnston said he's confident that police will use the ARV1 to protect officers dealing with armed individuals, not against people exercising their right to demonstrate.