BEECH GROVE — The Beech Grove Police Department has a new recruit on the force, and its size is already making a big impression in the community.
The police department purchased an 18,000-pound armored vehicle known as a "Bearcat." The steel colossus arrived in Beech Grove this week and will join the department's special response team.
"This can help with everything from natural disasters and barricaded subjects to even more active scenarios like active shooters," said Sgt. Joe Galloway of the Beech Grove Police Department, who is a four-year veteran of the special response team.
The department spent $180,000 on the Bearcat, with $150,000 coming from a Department of Homeland Security grant. Galloway said the remaining $30,000 came from criminal asset forfeiture funds.
The armored vehicle will not enter duty for several weeks due to licensing and registration, but pictures of the truck have some Beech Grove residents talking already.
"I guess there's an instance where they would need something like that," said Chris Wisner, a longtime Beech Grove resident who owns a store on Main Street.
Wisner said he supports any investment into the local police department.
"We have things that happen all the time here," Wisner said. "We have our own police force and we're lucky as a community in a lot of ways to have that. When you get in trouble, that's who you call."
Beech Grove resident and Marine veteran Aubrey Anderson said he was enthusiastic about the police department's new addition. He believes military-grade equipment belongs with police departments if it can no longer function on the battlefield.
"It's beneficial for us, 100 percent," Anderson said. "If it falls in the wrong hands, they're going to use it, so why not us?"
Galloway hopes Beech Grove does not have to use the Bearcat much either.
"In a perfect world, we would never use this vehicle," Galloway said.
