Oakland, Macomb County Must Return Armored Vehicles to Feds
President Obama is ending a program that sent armored vehicles to local law enforcement agencies.
The Macomb and Oakland County Sheriffs’ Departments are returning several armored vehicles they received from the federal government. President Obama signed an executive order earlier this year ending transfers of combat style gear to local law enforcement agencies.
Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham says it’s not a good idea to return the armored vehicles.
“It is exclusively utilized by our Macomb County SWAT team which is multi-jurisdictional,” Wickersham says. “Over the course of 11 years, it’s been used many times in high-risk situations, barricaded gunmen, hostage situations.”
Wickersham says the trucks have been a great asset to the team, providing protection officers and citizens. He says he’s currently looking at options for purchasing a new armored vehicle.
