The La Grande Police Department acquired an armored vehicle by donation in 2011 through a program that donates retired vehicles to law enforcement agencies.

After years of volunteering time and effort toward securing an armored rescue vehicle, the La Grande Police Department has unveiled its newest major resource.

Volunteers with the LGPD and community completed work on the vehicle earlier this year and hope it will increase safety during high-risk, life-threatening situations.

“The ultimate intended purpose is that it saves lives,” said

La Grande Police Chief Brian Harvey.

The armored rescue vehicle, or ARV, came at limited cost to the city, police department officials said.

The vehicle was donated in 2011 through a Brinks Inc. company program through which the company donates retired vehicles to law enforcement agencies. The LGPD’s ARV was previously used as an armored money transport and came to La Grande in “excellent mechanical condition,” with a new engine, according to a police department press release.

The vehicle did need some retrofitting to make it suitable for law enforcement use, though. Much of the work on the vehicle was donated in more than 2,000 hours of volunteered time. A number of local and regional businesses also donated equipment and time toward the project.

Sgt. Gary Bell said the police department spent about $6,500 over several years on the vehicle, which has an estimated value of $300,000.

“The major overhaul was to increase ballistic protection,” said Bell, commander of the Northeast Oregon Regional SWAT team. “The whole idea is to provide a service that makes it safer to do the job.”

Both Bell and Harvey cited a 2011 standoff during which a man fired a shotgun several times in a La Grande mobile home park. Nearby residents could not be safely evacuated during the incident, the officials said.

“We had people we literally had to leave in harm’s way because we couldn’t get them out of their (homes),” Harvey said.

In such instances, Harvey said, police can make use of an ARV to remove people from dangerous situations.

The ARV can also serve as a sort of shield between the public and high-risk scenarios, as it was used in the Jan. 23 incident during which an armed suicidal man barricaded himself in a room at the Orchard Motel on Adams Avenue.

“That was the first time we actually used this vehicle,” Bell said, adding that finishing touches on the vehicle, including adding logos, came after the incident.