Brian Clemmenson
Equinox Staff
In 2012, the city of Keene received a grant to purchase the Ballistic Engineered Armored Response an Rescue Counter Attack Truck, known to many simply as the BearCat.
According to Salon.com, “Despite resistance, the Keene police department put the BearCat to use, starting in the fall of 2012, and it was used twenty-one times as of summer 2013: nineteen times for training exercises, once in response to a barricaded person and once in response to a person threatening suicide.”
By accepting the BearCat, I believe the city made the right decision, as they are now more prepared to handle an emergency situation.
Since accepting the BearCat, Keene has at times become the subject of criticism on a national level.
One of the more recent rounds of criticism came from comedian John Oliver on August 17 when he said that Keene has the BearCat to protect its pumpkins in the annual Pumpkin Festival.
Oliver said in his rant on Last Weeks Tonight with John Oliver, “Good luck easily out-maneuvering [that] teenagers with baseball bats.”
A boston.com article reported about Oliver’s comments in an article published on Aug. 18, 2014. But Oliver missed the bigger picture.
The Keene Police Department probably will not have to worry about a large angry mob smashing pumpkins with baseball balls during the event.
Rather, KPD will have to worry about drunk college students and tensions with neighbors.
However, KPD might need to worry about the risk of a terrorist attack at Pumpkin Festivial, or some other big disaster occurring.
With the growing threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS] terror groups there is always the potential that an attack by a homegrown-terrorist could happen on American soil. We have seen such instances with Al-Qaeda encouraging homegrown-terrorists to plan a small attack.
Imagine if something did happen? There would be tons of panic, probably injuries, maybe even deaths and order would have to be restored as quickly as possible.
Since the city of Keene has the Bearcat, the city right now is better prepared to handle a situation of that magnitude.
Without the BearCat, officers from the Keene Police Department and other law enforcement agencies would be running around with no real protection until it arrives from elsewhere.
In addition, by the time it arrives from elsewhere it might be too late to capture a suspect, or the law enforcement’s personal lives might be compromised during the wait.
The BearCat’s presence in Keene puts Keene at number one on the list of four cities from a March 2014 Salon.com article of the most militarized police in the country.
Keene is followed by: Ogden, Utah, Columbia, S.C. and Paragould, Ark. However, all of these cities are prepared to handle a major crisis better because they have militarized equipment.
The Keene City Council recently revisited the issue once again in a meeting on September 4.
According to a Keene Sentinel article by Ella Nilsen on Sept. 5, 2014, Council Terry M. Clark’s request was briefly considered for Keene to get rid of the Bearcat.
Mayor Kendall Lane however at the meeting tabled the request and had other council members side with him on the issue.
Therefore the BearCat was not brought up for serious discussion. For that Mayor Lane should be applauded for keeping the BearCat as it has been debated year in and year out since Keene put the BearCat into use in 2012.
After September 11, people should always be on the side of caution because you never know when some thing might happen.
The world we live in is normalized to violence. The city of Keene should not care what people around the world or country think.
The people against the BearCat should wake up and realize that the city of Keene is safer because it has that piece of equipment.
Finally, as we have heard time in and time out in today’s day and age it is better to be safe than sorry.
Brian Clemmenson can be contacted at bclemmenson@keene-equinox.com