Kalispell police loaded for BEAR

'Intimidation factor' looms large in new armored vehicle

Heads turn as the hulking charcoal-gray vehicle rolls down Kalispell's Main Street, with a seeming ability to rumble over compact cars.

This is more than a monster truck - the Ballistic Engineered Armored Response vehicle is now part of the Kalispell Police Department fleet, courtesy of a $300,000 donation from part-time Flathead County resident Don Abbey.

Police Chief Roger Nasset and the department's SWAT team commander, Tim Falkner, flew to Pittsfield, Mass., last week and then drove the rig 2,600 miles back to Kalispell over three days.

The BEAR, manufactured by Lenco Armored Vehicles, is powered by a 300-horsepower Caterpillar diesel engine, with its 24-foot long and 10-foot-high bulk riding on a Freightliner chassis. It is four-wheel drive and is outfitted with communications capabilities and blaring sirens, lights and a public-address system. Those are just some of the guts and extras behind a ride that weighs 26,000 pounds.

What's impressive is the vehicle's skin - half-inch steel armor and reinforced bullet-proof glass that can stop a .50-caliber bullet. The doors swing with the heaviness of a walk-in safe door. There are multiple gun ports, including one in a circular, rotating roof hatch.

It's a big improvement over the standard Chevrolet Suburban that has been used by the 10-member SWAT team. Nasset said it's the type of armored vehicle typically used by police departments with more than 1,000 officers.

So isn't it a bit excessive for Kalispell?

Not at all, Nasset said.

While some might imagine the BEAR being put to use only in the most extreme and rare confrontations, Nasset and Falkner said it will be used in situations that are relatively frequent for the Kalispell Police Department and other law enforcement agencies in Western Montana.

They said the BEAR can serve multiple purposes - responding to bomb threats or hazardous material incidents, or serving as a mobile command post for major crimes, or as a highly mobile rescue vehicle, capable of evacuating up to 35 people at a time.

But it will mainly provide a tactical advantage for confrontations that are fairly common, Falkner said.

He cited the recent incident near Creston in which the SWAT team assisted the Flathead County Sheriff's Office in apprehending two armed men after they had allegedly fired on officers.

In that confrontation, which occurred at night, the BEAR would have been "ideal" for allowing officers to approach the suspects without so much exposure, Falkner said.

Nasset used as an example a recent standoff involving a suicidal man who had barricaded himself in a house with guns - a situation that was dangerous for officers to simply approach the door.

As used by police in other jurisdictions, the BEAR can be driven directly up to the front door of a house for negotiators to communicate. The ceiling hatch can be used to make second-story entries.

And Falkner said he has spoken with officers around the country who have stories about BEAR vehicles having a "major intimidation factor" in standoff situations.

"The individual decides that's more than they want to deal with, and they come out without shots fired, and that's the outcome we want to see," he said.

"This gives us the opportunity to drive right up to the front door and tell them to come out," Nasset said. "The intimidation factor alone, I think, will help us out."

Nasset said the purchase is justifiable because it came as a donation to the department and because it has the potential to save lives.

"We have armored vehicles to guard money all over the place," he said, "But if we take the opportunity to have something like this to save one life in five years, what's that worth?"

Nasset bristled when asked about the comment by one Inter Lake reader that the donation was inappropriate, creating a potential perception that the department has been "bought" by Don Abbey.

Nasset said that suggestion is "ridiculous" because of the practical protection the BEAR will provide to officers who previously were exposed to danger.

"With Mr. Abbey, there are no strings attached," he said. "I've never even met him."

He said Abbey, who has a home on Flathead Lake's Shelter Island, made the donation after learning the SWAT team previously relied on a regular Suburban for transportation.

"For a department like ours, this is like winning the lottery," Nasset said. "We just don't have the resources to outfit ourselves in this way. We are going to take the opportunity to protect the public and ourselves."

Nasset said the department is prepared to make the armored vehicle available to law enforcement agencies across Western Montana, since it is the only vehicle of its kind in the region.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com