SAGINAW, MI -- Saginaw is no longer home to a tracked armored vehicle that the department received nearly a decade ago from the military.
Military representatives picked up the Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) from the Saginaw Police Department Monday, Dec. 7, Chief of Police Robert Ruth said.
The move comes about three months after President Barack Obama ordered departments across the country to return tracked vehicles they received free of cost from the U.S. military, Ruth said.
Ruth said the loss will not impact the department, though some Michigan lawmakers are not in favor of the change.
Six Republican members of Michigan's congressional delegation want President Obama to reconsider the order, The Associated Press reports.
The letter noted last week's California shootings, saying "local police and emergency personnel are on the front lines of this new phase in the terrorists' war against us."
It was signed by Reps. Mike Bishop, Bill Huizenga, Candice Miller, John Moolenaar, Dave Trott and Fred Upton, AP reports.
Useful and seldom used
Saginaw Police Department stickers were removed from the side of the APC before it left Saginaw and was shipped to Grayling, where there is a National Guard training facility, Ruth said.
The department received the APC carrier from the military in 2006 and it was used on scene twice, both situations with a barricaded gunman where shots had been fired, police said. The gunman surrendered in both instances.
The carrier is "seldom used, but when it's needed, it's very, very useful," former Chief of Police Brian Lipe said in September 2014, adding that he believes loved ones of officers are appreciative that there is something to protect officers while they approach a house with a loudspeaker to make contact with someone who is potentially dangerous inside.
Ruth said the vehicle is used "very infrequently" but agreed it did work on the couple times police used it.
"It was a nice piece of equipment and we used it for the Emergency Services team," Ruth said. "Its age and cost of repair were a little high. It doesn't hurt me that it's gone."
He said other agencies in Michigan, such as the Michigan State Police, have armored vehicles available if the department needs one.
Other police agencies in Michigan also gave vehicles back to the military.
Another armored vehicle no longer used locally is the Mine-Resistant Ambush Proof (MRAP) vehicle that the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department received from the U.S. Army in 2014.
Sheriff William Federspiel at the time called the MRAP "a lemon" that would have cost more to maintain than first expected. He said he decided to get rid of it in part because other agencies have similar armored vehicles that the department could request if needed.
Several departments in Saginaw County still have Humvees in use that were converted from military use for police use. Ruth said the presidential order only affects tracked vehicles.
Below is the Frankenmuth Police Department Humvee, customized for police work and put into service in January 2013. Hover the cursor over the image to see how it looked coming from the military and how it appears now.
-- Brad Devereaux is a public safety reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+