The hulking armored vehicle that Hamburg police inherited from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum spends most days alone in a cinder block garage at the town’s Public Works Department, flanked by potted petunias.
So far, the “mine-resistant, ambush-protected” vehicle, or MRAP, has been deployed once in Hamburg – to serve a search warrant. Otherwise, it has rumbled down streets to help other suburban police agencies on just four other occasions, such as dealing with other warrants and a barricaded shooter.
Much national attention has been given to the militarization of police forces following the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and the extent to which surplus equipment has been distributed at the local level. In Erie County, Hamburg’s MRAP stands out as the biggest recent hand-me-down from the Defense Department.
Valued at $658,000, it is the priciest item on the list of surplus military equipment that Erie County police departments obtained over the last four years through the Defense Department’s “1033” program. Total value of surplus equipment in the county: $973,000.