The Oak Harbor Police Department will purchase a used vehicle that would increase protection of officers in the scenario of an active-shooter threat, a barricaded subject and disasters.

In a 4-2 vote, the Oak Harbor City Council approved last Tuesday a resolution that would declare The Armored Group as the supplier of an armored rescue vehicle, which would replace the Oak Harbor Police Department’s mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle.

The Armored Group is one of the world’s largest sellers of used armored vehicles, supplying to the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State, foreign governments and more.

The department has its eye set on a used 2014 BATT Armored Vehicle — the only used BATT vehicle the Armored Group has available — that is designed for civilian law enforcement and that would cost the department $161,000. For comparison, a new vehicle would cost between $275,000 and $300,000 and construction would begin in one year.

During the meeting, Chief of Police Kevin Dresker said it’s the right vehicle at the right time and at the right cost and that there is enough money in the budget to purchase it. Since 2014, the department has been operating a six-wheeled demilitarized vehicle from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars — the only one in Island County — received from the Department of Defense. Now, the vehicle is in need of up to $35,000 worth of repair work and is in such bad condition that city mechanics said it wouldn’t be able to go farther than three miles, Dresker said, which is an issue if a high-risk incident occurs.

“It does not make sense to put that kind of money into this older military vehicle,” Dresker wrote in a letter included in the meeting agenda packet.

The new vehicle, Dresker said, would be much cheaper to repair as its parts are available in the civilian market, which is not the case for the current vehicle. Additionally, it only has 4,560 miles on it and is expected to last 25 years.

Dresker said the new vehicle’s small size fits the needs of the city while being large enough to fit officers and medical personnel inside. It’s also easier to drive, and more officers can be trained to operate it.

Though suspects don’t shoot officers in most interventions, armored rescue vehicles add more protection and give officers more peace of mind during a high-risk incident, similarly to wearing ballistic vests, Dresker said.

During the meeting, Councilmember Bryan Stucky questioned the need for such a vehicle, saying most police departments he looked into did not have one. Dresker replied he does not care what other police departments do, but cares about his officers and civilians. An armored vehicle offers more protection than a patrol car which “bullets slice through like paper.”

The Oak Harbor Police Department is part of the Regional SWAT Team serving Island and Skagit counties, including Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. When Stucky and Councilmember Tara Hizon asked if a partnership with the county to purchase the vehicle was possible, Dresker said OHPD should be a leader in law enforcement within the island and the region and that the vehicle wouldn’t just benefit Oak Harbor.

Stucky and Hizon voted against the resolution.