Parkersburg Police Chief Mathew Board talks to the Parkersburg City Council Finance Committee about the acquisition and significance of a new Bearcat armored vehicle for the police department during a budget meeting Tuesday night. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg City Council Finance Committee discussed the acquisition and significance of a $384,310 Bearcat armored vehicle for the police department during a budget meeting Tuesday night.

Police Chief Mathew Board talked to the committee about the safety benefits the vehicle would provide to officers.

“It is just what it is, an armored vehicle,” Board said. “It provides cover, concealment and defilade for those that would have to go into dangerous situations and greatly increase the chances of coming out without mortal wound or significant injury.”

Board said the vehicle does not have any assault capabilities and could not be used in that capacity.

“This is nothing that has weapons bound to it, no missiles, no machine guns, nothing like that. It’s not an assault vehicle,” he said.

Board talked about recent situations where a vehicle of this caliber could have been utilized by officers.

“I have a list of five where we’ve had to call for other agencies’ armored vehicles in the last five years,” he said.

One incident occurred on Aug. 28, 2021, where police responded to a call complaining of gunshots at 509 Buckeye St. Building A apartment 301 at 1 a.m. Officers then tried to negotiate peacefully with the renter, David Adams, 50, throughout the night. However, Adams shot 42 gunshots with various rifle calibers and rounds out of his window, even hitting the other apartments in the complex.

“The one that sticks out my mind probably most, because I was there. I believe it was: 42 rounds from an AR-15 were fired from a third story window from an apartment complex, as officers (were) trying to evacuate people out of those buildings,” Board said. “Rounds started going off. Officers have to take cover, barricade people that they’re trying to evacuate, and we had no such vehicle. We ended up getting the county’s, and ultimately were able to subdue the subject with utilization of an armored vehicle. [It] allows you to get closer to the scene, as opposed to having to operate from blocks, if not further, away. That’s its intended purpose.”

The funds for the vehicle will come from a $200,000 federal grant, $110,188 from state and local asset forfeiture funds, $5,500 from DOJ asset forfeiture and $68,692 from the city’s law enforcement support fund.

“I think it’d be classy if the city would send a thank you card to all the drug dealers that made this partially possible,” Councilmember Mike Reynolds said.

Fire department and public works projects were also discussed by the committee where they outlined reserved funds for replacing a fire truck and recycling truck, and reviewed ongoing projects like the 9/11 Memorial, park recreation center, and fire station, with adjustments made to reflect current completion rates and costs. Repairs to the municipal building and additional equipment upgrades were also agreed upon.

“We began the year with a fund balance of $2,969,000. We brought in $34,660,000 and spent $35,090,000, ending the fiscal year with a deficit of $429,959 and a fund balance of $2,538,740,” Eric Jiles, director of finance, said.

The committee finalized amendments, adopting the year-end budget revisions and voted unanimously to forward the revised budget to the full council for approval.