Volusia sheriff fumes over giving up armored carrier

Volusia County's largest police agency will relinquish one of its armored vehicles next week to comply with an executive order that Sheriff Ben Johnson said shows President Barack Obama "doesn't care a whole lot about law enforcement officers."

Removing armored vehicles from police agencies drastically increases the chances of his deputies and other officers getting killed in situations where the equipment has proven its worth, Johnson said this week.

The Sheriff's Office was notified by the Florida Department of Management Services that it had to give up its armored personnel carrier, a vehicle that is not fitted with any kind of weaponry. The vehicle is used to safely transport officers closer to active shooting situations, Johnson said.

The state is acting on a Jan. 16 presidential executive order issued in the wake of police killings of citizens in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City and California.

In an interview Tuesday, Johnson cited examples of where the armored personnel carrier was fired upon with SWAT members inside and crouched behind it for cover as they tried to diffuse situations under fire in Osteen and Ormond-By-The-Sea.

Johnson said the new prohibitions on some military-style equipment will leave agencies with the inability to safely respond to some situations.

The idea that our president will take this stuff away from us, the M113 (armored personnel carrier), puts not only our deputies in harm's way but the citizens in harm's way," Johnson said. "It's obvious from some of the decisions he's made that he really doesn't care a whole lot about law enforcement officers."

The M113 was purchased from federal surplus 11 years ago for $1,500. The Sheriff's Office put $30,000 in improvements into the vehicle.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is the only agency in Volusia and Flagler counties with a tracked vehicle, and it is used by other agencies in a mutual aid agreement, Johnson said. Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach police departments are the other local agencies that have armored vehicles. Those are on wheels and not tracks.

White House spokeswoman Kaelan Richards in an email Wednesday declined to address Johnson's comments.

An explanation on the White House's website says that Obama signed the executive order after recommendations by the Law Enforcement Working Group, formed after the Ferguson, Missouri, shooting of an unarmed man which sparked riots throughout the city.

The group said its investigation revealed that although law enforcement agencies depend on the military-style equipment to prevent crime, ensure officer safety and protect and serve the public, it also found that there were incidents of misuse, overuse and inappropriate use of these implements.

The list of recommendations by the group included the Prohibited Equipment List which identified categories of equipment that should not be authorized for law enforcement agencies. That includes tracked armored vehicles like the Sheriff's Office M113A.

"The president is taking steps to end practices that stress community-police relations and promote practices that build trust between a community and its police force," the website states.

The Florida Department of Management Services, acting on behalf of the president's order, sent a letter to the Sheriff's Office last week informing the agency that it needs to turn in its M113A armored personnel carrier. The statewide recall is being made on all tracked vehicles, according to the letter.

"As previously discussed, ALL Tracked Armored Vehicles will be turned in. NO EXCEPTIONS. All LEA (law enforcement agency) markings on the armored tracked vehicles must be removed or covered (painted over)," according to the letter issued by Paul Tart, state program administrator of the Law Enforcement Support Office, which manages federal surplus military equipment.

The executive order will affect 11 law enforcement agencies in Florida, which will have to hand in their tracked armored vehicles. The White House spokeswoman Richards said law enforcement agencies that have their tracked vehicles recalled will be given priority in receiving "equivalent wheeled vehicles" that meet equipment requirements.

Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said he did not immediately have statistics Wednesday on how often the armored vehicle is deployed, but said it is a valuable asset to the Sheriff's Office.

"Clearly, it’s not a piece of equipment that’s needed every day but when a tracked vehicle is needed to provide cover in a gunfight, evacuate residents or other law enforcement officers from harm’s way and traverse rough terrain or climb over mounds of debris, a wheeled vehicle often just can’t get the job done," Davidson said.

Johnson and other deputies, who have been fired upon in their careers, said tracked vehicles can make a difference.

When Lake County Deputy Wayne Koester was shot and killed in Lake County while responding to a domestic violence call in 2005, Volusia's M113 was the only vehicle that could get through palmetto trees to get to where the suspect was hiding, Johnson said.

In 2005, Deputy Jeff Wiles, 50, watched from his sniper position from behind a tree in Osteen as a barricaded Christopher Cosgrove opened fire and deputies scurried for cover behind trees. The armored vehicle was brought and Cosgrove opened fire on the vehicle carrying SWAT members, with other deputies crouched behind it.

"I could see the muzzle flashes from inside his door," Wiles recalled. "The bullets just kept bouncing off the armor of the vehicle."

Wiles said the bulletproof glass window was cracked but it held otherwise.

And when deputies were trapped behind their patrol car in Ormond-By-The-Sea after Allen Buzdigian opened fire on them, the M113 helped rescue deputies, Johnson said.

Johnson said losing the M113 armored personnel carrier, which has had its law enforcement markings painted over or scraped off, also raises the fear that agencies may face losing other armored vehicles, like the MRAP (Mine-resistant Ambush Protected). Those wheeled vehicles have not been recalled.

Johnson said the decision to remove such vehicles was made by those caving to political pressure for the wrong reasons.

“Without this equipment what you do is you send your people out on suicide missions, because losing equipment like that, people are going to die," Johnson said. "This thing (M113A) ain't here to look cute and be on exhibit. it's here to save lives."