Unrest returned to America’s streets last year, and while things didn’t get as messy as 2020, it also looks like the potential for demonstrations may continue a while longer. That means, with further rallies and public expressions of anger, police will have to remain prepared.
One threat of protests is that masses of nonviolent demonstrators can provide effective inadvertent cover for bad actors – and it only takes a few bad actors to cause big problems. There were some instances of that in 2025 involving law enforcement vehicles: During a February protest against federal immigration policies in Glendale, Arizona, a protester briefly stole a police car during the unrest. During another four months later in Los Angeles, cruisers were pummeled with rocks and cinder blocks, and demonstrators attempted to set some on fire.
In neither case, thankfully, did violent protesters get their hands on firearms or other valuable equipment (though that did happen in Seattle during the protests of 2020). But the examples reminded officers how vulnerable their vehicles can be – and how essential it is to protect the contents within.
That’s been TruckVault’s focus for more than 30 years. The Washington-based company serves law enforcement with secure, custom vehicle storage solutions that help officers safely organize and protect their weapons and gear. Its products are used widely across police departments, sheriffs’ offices and other public safety agencies throughout the U.S.
To maximize the security of those products, TruckVault provides multiple lock options. While all are secure, its highest-security option is a mechanical push-button Kaba Simplex lock that requires a numeric code or key override to open. This has no batteries, wiring, power supply or software, making it reliable in applications where electronics might fail.
That still does its job – but now the company’s gone one better. Its new TacLock brings some key advantages to enhance the safety of stored contents and officers’ use of TruckVault systems in the field.
“We’ve been using this push-button combo lock for most of our 30 years now, and we’ve gotten a lot of feedback from customers on its usability and how it functions,” said Ross Roberts, TruckVault’s creative director. “It’s been a very solid lock for us for a long time, but there are just some nuances we wanted to change to make it a bit more user-friendly and improve the user experience.”
Tamper-resistant clutch highlights security
Like the previous model, the TacLock is all mechanical, with no batteries or electronics. It features more than 1,500 combination options and also offers key override for quick emergency entry or if a combination is forgotten. Unlike its predecessor, it’s designed and trademarked by TruckVault.
Within the lock, the clutch that connects the key cylinder to the locking bolt disengages under the force of an attempted break-in, leaving any would-be thief with a disconnected cylinder.
“Rather than staying in rotation with the locking bolt and potentially forcing the lock to release,” explained Nathan Richner, a product engineer who worked on the TacLock, “the tamperproof clutch will disengage from the bolt and allow the lever to continue to rotate, making it more difficult to break into the drawer.” That’s effective against pry bars, hammers and striking, and high torque.
Like the Kaba Simplex, the TacLock has Strike Guard technology, which adds steel strike and backer plates to lock the bolt in place and further deter intrusion.
The TacLock, however, should be quieter in transit. TruckVault heard from its users over the years that while the previous lock was secure, it sometimes rattled. The company added rubber noise-dampening material around the strike guard to remedy that.
Built exclusively for TruckVault systems and drawers, the new lock also features refined ergonomics, including larger buttons for faster, smoother operation. Users will note the high-contrast numbers on the buttons and their mechanical feel when depressed. “The buttons and lock lever are easy to grasp and use even when wearing gloves,” said Richner.
“They need to make sure they’re hitting those buttons properly and feeling them activate,” added Roberts, “because at the end of the day, time matters when you’re getting into your TruckVault to retrieve items.”
The TacLock will be standard on TruckVault builds for SUVs and covered-bed pickups, though it’s not designed for all-weather operation. For that TruckVault offers a folding T-handle compression lock (with more choices coming soon). Other options include a silver T-handle lock with keyed lock and handle and a black keyed T-handle version for general secure storage in everyday operations. These are both smaller and suited for vehicles with tighter quarters. All come with one-year warranties.
The Kaba Simplex lock will also remain available.
Elevated approach emphasizes protection
All these advanced locks are part of an elevated approach to security designed to keep things safely where officers put them and protected from theft, crashes and destruction. TruckVault systems are made from medium-density overlay (MDO), an extra strong wood material created by applying weather-resistant resinated fiber overlays to multiple layers of wood. MDO is widely used in construction and security products.
It’s part of a holistic posture on security. MDO provides extreme durability, insulating properties and resistance to environmental stress that work with products’ internal structure and secure mounting and locking methods to provide a comprehensive approach to protection. MDO is a flexible material that supports purpose-built, vehicle-specific systems precisely engineered to users’ needs.
That wide-ranging approach includes resistance to environmental threats. In 2023 TruckVault worked with a local fire department near its home in Washington to burn a Chevy C10 pickup with the company’s All-Weather system. After around 24 minutes of burn time, during which flame temperatures topped 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature inside the TruckVault system remained less than 71 degrees, and all contents remained undamaged.
Following the burn test, the company turned a pressure washer on the drawer system, and the items inside remained dry. That seal also keeps out dust, dirt and other debris.
In another exercise with the same department, TruckVault provided a Dodge Durango for a controlled burn. This was allowed to burn for 15 minutes. During the test, external temperatures reached 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit, while again, the peak internal heat of the drawers held to 71.
The company has also tested both its All-Weather line and standard carpeted system in a truck-sized oven heated to 150 degrees Fahrenheit to simulate the heat of a desert day. After two hours, its systems were 28% cooler than metal competitors.
A forthcoming security upgrade will involve strengthening drawer sides with additional metal bracketing as an additional defense against prying. This is one of a variety of configurable security enhancements available based on departments’ needs and priorities, including steel shroud layers and third-layer lock protection plates that shield against tampering. Some of these features were developed in collaboration with federal partners, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. All are part of a layered approach developed to resist a range of forced-entry attempts.
“Every little incremental improvement we make reflects this idea and motto we’ve come up with, ‘We build security,’” said Roberts. “Essentially we try to make every decision based off customers’ security needs – that’s what drives us.”
Stolen firearms: It can happen
No matter how quiet your community, those needs can be greater than you think. That May 2020 theft of firearms from ransacked cruisers in Seattle demonstrated the risks – and was quickly resolved thanks only to the action of savvy bystander who now swears by TruckVault.
John Carughi, a military contractor and former Marine, had been hired to provide security for a news crew covering the angry protests that followed the death of George Floyd. The crew set up to capture the destruction of a pair of squad cars targeted by rioters. When the vandals breached into one car, gaining access to the items inside, Carughi sent the team around a corner for safety.
A rioter emerged with an AR-15, with which he pumped four rounds into the car and a nearby wall. He then ducked into a store. Carughi pursued, surprised him from around a corner and physically snatched the weapon from him. He disabled it, removing the bolt carrier group and charging handle.
Back at the cars, the scenario was repeating, with a second rioter breaking into the second vehicle. In a near-repeat, the thief took an AR-15, Carughi gave chase and seized the weapon back. He eventually returned both weapons to startled police.
“For law enforcement and anyone carrying a firearm for professional reasons, security of your sensitive items and firearms is a huge consideration,” Carughi later said in a video for TruckVault. “Every single day, every single second that you’re carrying them … you need to know where they are going to be. The best way to do that is develop the habit of considering it – always fight against the complacency of, ‘Oh, it’s fine, it’s been fine there.’ And that comes down to storage on duty … and the security of your firearm, making sure no one can get to it.”
For more information, visit TruckVault.
