LEWISTON – Deputy police Chief Michael Bussiere stood 11 feet off the ground surveying the scenery that stretched out before him. Beneath his feet was a new $107,000 command post vehicle equipped with telescoping lights, blinking screens, mysterious lockers and a variety of gadgets.
To a child, the new critical incident response vehicle would be the ultimate plaything. Police are quick to point out that the mission of the vehicle is about anything but games.
“It should allow us to handle just about any situation that might arise,” said police Chief William Welch. “We have everything we want and exactly where we want it.”
The rig was born in the imaginations of Welch and his officers. It was designed and created by Emergency Vehicles of Maine, a Lewiston company that bid on the project along with several other groups from around the country. Welch was happy to find that the best team for the job was right here in the city.
“They have been so responsive to what we need,” Welch said. “They helped us design it from the ground up.”
On Tuesday, the 24-foot, 3-inch long box truck sat inside a warehouse, waiting to be rolled into service. A canopy was rolled out from one side. The gated observation deck was set up on the roof. Telescoping lights were poking up here and there.
Inside, map tables and desks were laid down and then folded up. Flat screen monitors sat dark and silent, mounted on walls. Empty lockers were opened and then closed. Soon, those lockers will be filled with various equipment, including self-contained breathing apparatus, body bunkers, weapons, evidence collection kits, and other gear that Bussiere declined to elaborate on.
The rig will also house equipment that will enable police to respond to situations involving snipers, riots, hazardous materials or weapons of mass destruction.
“Hopefully, we’ll never have to use it for those things,” Welch said.
Most larger police departments have some form of critical incident unit parked in their garages. Few get the opportunity to design their own. Welch said this one was constructed specifically to meet the needs of the Lewiston Police Department. And it was built solely on money from the Department of Homeland Security.
“No local dollars were spent,” Bussiere said.
Inside the rig, Bussiere pointed out controls for a pair of generators that will provide power to the vehicle during long-term use. The vehicle can be heated with propane gas in cold months, air conditioned in the summer.
“We could literally work out of here for a number of days if we had to,” Bussiere said.
The designers and builders at Emergency Vehicles of Maine spent more than six months completing the vehicle.
Workers were putting the final cosmetic touches on the vehicle Tuesday inside a warehouse complex at the end of Foss Road. Today, the rig will be rolled out, exhibited for the press, and driven to the police station on Park Street. Welch said some of his officers will be trained in the use of the vehicle before they become active operators.
Meanwhile, Bussiere insists police have not assigned a nickname to their new, state-of-the art command post. No clever acronyms and no pet names.
“We call it,” the deputy chief said, “the critical incident response vehicle.”
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