By Suzie Ziegler
POTTAWATTAMIE, Iowa – An Iowa sheriff’s office has a new piece of machinery that it hopes will help keep residents safe.
“We are the only ones in a large area to be able to have this kind of machinery,” Sgt. Marc Freeman of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office told WOWT.
The Rook is a tactical vehicle by Ring Power Solutions that the agency plans to use for both natural disasters and police response, reports WOWT.
“It’s a dual-purpose machine. We can use it for an emergency situation. If we have a house where somebody is armed or barricaded, we use it for that. The other thing we can use this for is a natural disaster, storm cleanup,” said Capt. Steve Winchell.
The Rook made its debut earlier this month when it was called to a barricaded situation involving an armed man, according to the report. Municipal leaders say responding to a standoff is just one of the Rook’s many talents.
“We’ve been through the flood. We’ve seen what that’s like on multiple occasions. We’ve had severe weather come through our communities whether that be straight-line winds, the Derechos or tornados. To be able to take this out and help our communities and the leaders get our communities up and running is huge for us,” said Sgt. Freeman.
The vehicle was purchased with a bond issue, reported WOWT.
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