Dakota County Sheriff's Office Acquires Decommissioned Military-grade, Mine-resistant Vehicle

This week, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office took possession of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicle, more commonly known as an MRAP.

The MRAP vehicles are military vehicles used in Iraq and Afghanistan to combat roadside bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The MRAP delivered to Dakota County weighs over 40,000 pounds due to the heavy armor plating, Sheriff Dave Bellows writes in his weekly newsletter. 

"While they were designed with heavy armor to protect soldiers from the impact of IED’s, they will provide equal protection for law enforcement officers. After getting some refurbishment, we will assign the vehicle to the MAAG (SWAT) team," Bellows writes.

According to an article in the Washington Post, the U.S. military had about 24,000 of them at the start of this year, some of which have been scrapped as the war winds down. Each originally cost $1 million, the Post writes. 

Some of them have been decommissioned by the military for use by civilian authorities, however. The MRAP delivered to the DCSO is just the first of 18 such vehicles, which will soon arrive in Minnesota for use by local law enforcement agencies. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety will distribute the vehicles over the next few months.