The Madison Police Department's Armored Rescue Vehicle, or ARV, is officially in use. The ARV is an armored vehicle that is protected against small arms fire and improvised explosive devices. The vehicle is to be used for high-risk events which will allow us to do our jobs more safely.
The 10-33 program of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1997 allows the Department of Defense to transfer additional military property to state and local law enforcement agencies. This program is used nationally in order for police departments to obtain various kinds of equipment that is no longer being used by the military. We have been on the national waiting list to acquire an armored vehicle through this program for several years. In the fall of 2013 the Madison Police Department finally reached the top of the list and we were able to acquire our ARV.
Nationally 94% of the top 100 most populated cities have an armored police vehicle. We were one of the last police agencies serving comparably sized cities to not have an ARV. Until now if our city faced a high-risk situation we had to borrow an armored vehicle. They have statistically proven to save lives of officers and citizens during serious events.
The ARV's look and design is similar to that of a money courier business armored vehicle that we see driving around town on a regular basis. There are several other law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin that either have an armored vehicle or are on the waiting list to receive one. We have modified our ARV to that similar of our squads with paint, MPD logos/markings, radios and emergency lights.
The ARV is just another tool that we use in order to provide our community with the best service in order for us all to be able to have a safe city to live, work and play in. This vehicle does not change our philosophy on how we deliver police service or our commitment to serve the community professionally. Below are several pictures of our ARV.
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