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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) – Jamestown City Council unanimously voted to move forward with the purchase of a BearCat armored SWAT vehicle.
The quarter of a million dollar purchase will provide the team with an essential upgrade to the current pedestrian vehicle they use.
Council President Tony Dolce says that this new armored vehicle is critical to the SWAT team’s success, especially with the uptick in gun related crimes locally.
“With the number of SWAT calls, drug calls and busts, and guns being taken off the street,“ explained President Dolce. “It’s just the next extension of safety, not only for our department, for our police officers, but for our residents as well.”
The Council’s President goes on to say that this vehicle will provide officers with the ability to act in multiple different situations.
“This also gives the Police Department the ability, God forbid if we did have a major shooting, where they can actually rescue people and take them out of a situation in a much safer environment to get them out of there,” stated President Dolce. “And also, that vehicle can go through things and get a lot closer and certainly make it much safer not only for themselves but for residents as well as victims in any type of situation.”
The nearly $250,000 dollar purchase came from American Rescue Plan Act funds. It was not in the Mayor’s 2023 executive budget so it could pass through council as soon as possible.
It will take around a year for the BearCat armored SWAT vehicle to arrive in Jamestown.
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