In command

Sheriff’s office looks to shed specialized vehicle

LNWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE aw enforcement agencies, particularly sheriff’s offices, have over the years demonstrated an occasional penchant for the dramatic, especially when it came to free or reduced-price military gear or flashy equipment.

Grenade launch- ers? Mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles originally designed to protect soldiers from bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan? Yes, they’ve been handed over from time to time to Arkansas law enforcement agencies that, when they set their minds to it, can justify just about any shiny new toy as a necessary component in the fight against crime and the advancement of community protection.

Not all of it comes from the military, though.

We remember back in 2007 when Benton County Sheriff Keith Ferguson had him a Jaguar. Not the kitty-cat kind, but the automotive kind. It was seized from a drug dealer and eventually acquired through the courts, giving the sheriff’s office a chance to show it off to school children with a sign that said “This was a drug dealer’s car. Now it’s mine.” Signed Sheriff Ferguson.

Cool, right? We’re not so sure that’s a necessary component of law enforcement, but it does have a cool factor.

One doesn’t have to look far for law enforcement agencies that go ga-ga over drones or helicopters or whatever other neat gear we’re sure they’re selling at national conventions. We just like law enforcement agencies to stick with the basics. It was also around 2007 the Benton County Sheriff’s Office acquired a $366,109 mobile command unit that featured built-in radio, satellite and telephone data and voice communication systems as well as a weather-monitoring set-up and a 42-foot mast with cameras. It even had a conference room with seating for seven.

It’s been used from time to time during searches, but it’s been just as likely to be used as a cooling station or for “show and tell” outings to local schools. The county spent about $54,000 for an upgrade in 2013. And now, five years later, Sheriff Shawn Holloway says it’s too big, so he want’s a smaller vehicle with similar capabilities.

We want law enforcement officers to have the means to protect themselves from criminals and to serve our communities, but from time to time, the gear they choose to put taxpayer dollars into is, frankly, overkill.

What will Holloway’s office get? Hopefully, a down-to-earth vehicle that can meet the agency’s needs without all the sizzle that often attracts law enforcement resources.

It may be tempting to gear up and be prepared for the occasion of the zombie apocalypse, but that’s probably not the measuring stick for preparedness anyone needs to use.

At least Holloway appears to have a buyer for the old command center vehicle. A Missouri county offered $240,000.

Sell, sell, sell.

WHAT’S THE POINT? We appreciate the need for a well-equipped law enforcement agency, but sometimes what they put taxpayer dollars into seems more flash than substance.