The Cape Girardeau Police Department is acquiring two new all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) through a federal grant of over $21,000.
The ATVs will be equipped with lights and sirens and will be useful in the case of natural disasters, to manage crowds at public events and for officers to drive in places where they would have previously been on foot or on a bike.
Public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Darin Hickey, said the department got the idea from other agencies in the state. After seeing how useful ATVs were after the tornado that hit Joplin to get through yards, over tree limbs and areas with heavy debris, Hickey said the Cape Girardeau Police Department did not feel adequately prepared for a disaster that could happen here.
“We have the possibility of earthquakes and flooding here being along the river, so anything like that that we feel that a patrol car may not be useful, we’ll have these ATVs ready to go,” Hickey said.
The police department has the option each year to apply for these discretionary funds from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
“We have to spend that money on something that isn’t budgeted for, something that we’re not looking to purchase in the future,” Hickey said. “It kind of encourages police departments to look outside the box and try to buy some equipment that we may not have otherwise been ready to buy.”
The police department is sending two officers to the ATV safety institute for instructor training next month, where they will then return to the station to train the rest of the officers. It is specific training for law enforcement and public safety in the operation of the ATVs.