Amherst police eye armoured vehicle. An expert isn’t sure it’s needed.

The Amherst Police Department is considering the purchase of an armoured vehicle, but a criminology researcher questions the necessity in a municipality with around 10,000 people. 

Amherst Police Chief Dwayne Pike said the service is looking to purchase an armoured vehicle to improve public safety. He said the force is in discussions with a company about purchasing a former cash truck located in Atlantic Canada. 

“It gives you an option for safety for your members and for the public when you’re going into a serious situation where you’re dealing with weapons,” said Pike. 

The vehicle would be bulletproof, but Pike said Amherst is not purchasing a military vehicle. 

He said there have been many recent incidents in Nova Scotia and other provinces that have made police say: “If this ever happens here, it would be nice to have this piece of equipment.”

Keeping up with police trends 

Amherst’s interest in an armoured vehicle is part of a broader trend, says Temitope Oriola, a criminology professor at University of Alberta and president of the Canadian Sociological Association.  

He said there is a tendency in police services to want to keep up with other forces. “They want a tool, they want a weapon because all the police services want them.”

Oriola said Canadian services are imitating police militarization found in the United States. He said there is a case to be made for armoured vehicles in larger cities, like Toronto, but not in every municipality. 

“I think what each police service ought to do is a very sober analysis,” he said. 

Armoured vehicles in the region 

The Nova Scotia RCMP used its tactical armoured vehicle 45 times in 2022. By comparison, the police service said the vehicle was used a total of 46 times from 2019 to 2021. 

The RCMP vehicle is based in Halifax and there is also an armoured vehicle owned by the Miramichi Police Force.

Desiree Magnus, a spokesperson for Cape Breton Regional Police, said the service has an armoured SUV that is used by its emergency response team.

“It is primarily used for wounded recovery, so that police can safely extract a wounded civilian or officer,” Magnus said. She said the vehicle can also provide tactical assistance to other police agencies. 

“It’s a matter of timing,” Pike said. “When you’re dealing with a critical incident, I might not have five hours to wait.”

Halifax Regional Municipality backed away from a purchase of an armoured vehicle in 2020. Instead, the city reallocated the $368,000 in funding toward anti-Black racism programming, the office of public safety as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

Pike said the former cash truck, which is listed for sale at two dollars, could be a low-cost alternative. He said the vehicle would be operated by existing staff.

“I hope we never need it,” Pike said. “If we never use it, I’d be more than happy.”