THOUSAND OAKS : Armored Car Donated to SWAT Team

The Ventura County sheriff’s SWAT team on Thursday got a new set of wheels.

No longer will the team roll to assignments in an aging van without air conditioning. Instead, officers will burst onto the scene in a bullet-proof, modified armored car donated to the department.

“It’s heavy but it steers real well,” said Lt. Geoff Dean, who heads the SWAT team.

The interior of the vehicle, which weighs about 15,000 pounds, features custom-built shelves designed to hold the SWAT team’s weapons, rappelling equipment and ladders.

Other features include carpeting, an AM/FM stereo and air conditioning--something the old SWAT van lacked. The truck will hold up to seven people.

Worth an estimated $55,000 to $60,000, the vehicle was donated to the Sheriff’s Department during a ceremony Thursday at the East Valley station in Thousand Oaks where it will be kept.

It was donated by Los Angeles-based Armored Transport of California Inc. The inside was refinished by Pruner Health Services Inc., which operates ambulances in Ventura County, and Leader Ambulance Co., which builds ambulances.

Dean said the diesel-powered truck will be used in high-risk situations including serving search warrants where there might be weapons and explosives. Or, he said, it could be used to rescue people wounded by gunfire.

“We could drive right up to where the victim is and open the side door and pick them up with no danger to the officers inside,” he said.

The sheriff’s SWAT team averages about a call a month, Dean said.

Oxnard Police Lt. Joe Munoz, who is in charge of his department’s SWAT team, said his department is also looking at acquiring a similar vehicle.

“It would be an ideal rescue vehicle,” he said. “And it could serve as a small command post.”