Hidalgo County law enforcement receive Armored Personnel Carriers

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Multiple law enforcement agencies in Hidalgo County received new armored personnel carriers as part of a grant program.

The funding for the vehicles came from a Texas anti-gang grant program that was passed in 2015, where the legislative session targeted violence in areas of Texas with high gang activity.

A total of $2.4 million in grant funding was awarded to the multiple law enforcement departments in Hidalgo County.

The City of McAllen applied for the grant to purchase APCs and mobile command centers for the different agencies.

“When we agreed to create an RGV TAG program, McAllen agreed to take the lead on that," said McAllen Police Chief, Victor Rodriguez. "By virtue of lead, that means apply for all the money, apply for the grants. You know, manage that operation, fiscally.”

Departments across the valley were awarded older military transports in years past, after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles were some of the most popular vehicles granted to local law enforcement and others across the country.

Officials said these specialty units are easier to use and more mobile than what the federal government had provided in years past.

Hidalgo County Sheriff, Eddie Guerra said his department received a mobile command unit in addition to the armored tactical vehicle.

“In the colonias, or if it’s in a neighborhood, these units are more maneuverable. So we wanted to go with something like this," said Guerra.

Guerra's department has an MRAP and a larger version of the APC it received Tuesday.

The vehicles are equipped with the latest high-tech law enforcement capabilities, such as night vision, infrared and video systems.

“That’s what’s required of our law enforcement agencies today. In order to continue to deliver the public safety services that our communities deserve,” Rodriguez said.

This program allows the department to meet challenges it faces, such as increased violence. He also noted that crime in McAllen has been declining steadily.

“In the last fourteen years, a reduction every one of those years. At the end of last year, we had our lowest crime in the last 38 years in McAllen,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez explained that the anti-gang unit is, "Designed to make sure that we're properly analyzing crime, and criminal activities and criminals. And then when we associate them with gangs, to track them as gang members. That's the base objective."

Rodriguez added, “Clearly, you know that not everything a bad guy that’s a gang member does is gang-related. So that’s how it spreads everywhere else.”

When it comes to deployment, Sheriff Guerra said the new vehicle would used during high-risk SWAT hits.

"At the Sheriff's Office, that's determined by a matrix that we have. That determines at what level a response that it will call for," he said.

The vehicle could be used in a variety of circumstances such as a barricaded subject, someone who is unresponsive or somebody that is threatening the life of another person.

Over the years, there have been concerns about the increasing militarization of local police departments. Rodriguez said McAllen has never had a surplus military vehicle and said these armored personnel carriers are in a different category than other armored units employed by different agencies.

“These are not MRAPs, these are urban units as opposed to military equipment,” Rodriguez said. “You know the difference. You’re not looking at military vehicles here. They don’t fit the urban setting. These do.”