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Brinks donates truck to aid Boardman in fight against drugs
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Boardman Police Chief Jack Nichols, pictured here framed by an open gun port of a new armored vehicle, said on average, officers conduct one drug raid per week.
BOARDMAN
When township police officers raid a suspected drug house, they want the occupants to have one thought.
“This is not the place to be in the drug business,” said Police Chief Jack Nichols.
Police, trustees and township employees gathered Tuesday to unveil a visual symbol of the township’s fight against drugs: an armored truck for use on drug raids.
The truck was donated by Brinks, a company perhaps best known for securely transporting cash between banks.
“We crush [old trucks]. We don’t ever want an armored vehicle in the wrong hands,” said Cathy Pannunzio, a local Brinks branch manager.
Pannuzio said Brinks only donates trucks to law enforcement. This is the first time Brinks has donated a truck locally, she said, but other branches across the nation have done so.
Boardman road department employees worked for six months to rehabilitate the vehicle, which had severe rust damage and money boxes throughout the back cargo space.
Using donations from Home Depot, King Collision and Auto Zone, mechanics took out the money boxes and created a lighted space big enough to hold the 10 officers who conduct the raids and their gear.
New paint and emergency lights were installed and steel reinforcements added to ensure not even a rifle shot can penetrate the vehicle, said Road Superintendent Larry Wilson.
Wilson praised the mechanics who worked on the project, Mike Powell, Mike Carkido, Keith Mead and Will Costello, and called their talent “unbelievable.”
Nichols said many police officers donated their time on Saturdays to help grind metal for the truck, which he estimates to weigh about 26,000 pounds.
The project was funded by donations and money seized from previous drug raids, Nichols said. The FBI, Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force and other agencies will be able to borrow the vehicle, he said.
Sgt. Michael Hughes, who is the supervisor of the Boardman’s narcotics unit, said the cost of a vehicle similar to the re-done Brinks truck is between $70,000 and $80,000. And with the department averaging about one drug raid per week, the truck isn’t for show. Nichols referenced a raid last week on Wildwood Drive that he said “turned around quickly.”
Police found plastic bags full of suspected marijuana, empty containers with suspected marijuana residue, drug paraphernalia and a firearm.
All individuals living in the house have since been evicted and the department received about $10,000 in seized funds, Nichols said.