For a band of teenage car thieves, it was surely a thrilling haul: an assault rifle, a handgun, two bulletproof vests and 500 rounds of ammunition.
For the officer whose unmarked car they broke into and their department, it was a worst fear realized.
The case occurred in Columbus, Mississippi in 2022, and it holds some lessons for law enforcement about securing their expensive and dangerous equipment outside their stations.
The Columbus PD officer had taken their car home for the night, which the department allowed. It was an undercover vehicle, looking no different than any on the street. The items taken were in its trunk, securely locked. And yet with no obvious wrongdoing or mistakes by anyone in law enforcement, dangerous items came into the hands of worrisome people.
“The weapons being in the hands of a thief is a risk to the health and safety of our community,” Mayor Keith Gaskin said of the case. “Law enforcement must set the highest standards for gun safety and security. This highlights the need for us to review and update our general orders, policies and procedures.”
Officers need secure storage
The Columbus case was solved without much difficulty; an 18-year-old and four juveniles were arrested within a few days, and the body armor and some ammunition were recovered. The missing weapons weren’t immediately found, but officers did seize other guns that had been stolen.
The victimized officer had violated no policy and was not disciplined, but the event did underscore – for police in Columbus and everywhere – the importance of keeping dangerous and valuable items stored in the most secure way possible – especially in vehicles, and including undercover vehicles.
“An officer may have their vehicle broken into, or they may just lose and misplace gear among everything they carry,” said Julia Hanna, a marketing specialist with TruckVault, a prominent Washington-based provider of secure vehicle storage solutions for police, fire and other users in public safety and beyond. “It’s all very preventable. Maybe you can’t stop somebody from breaking into your vehicle, but you can potentially alter the outcome if your valuable gear is safely stored behind a lock.”
That’s a need TruckVault can fill. The company can custom-build solutions for any vehicle on the road, be it sedan, van, SUV or pickup, and provide durable, locking storage and organization configurations that keep key items safe, accessible and where you left them. Its builds are made of highly customizable medium-density overlay plywood and offer steel shroud reinforcement. They can come with a variety of lock mechanisms (with more on the way).
How undercover builds differ
While storage needs are as pressing for undercover vehicles as they are for marked ones, there are some challenges to getting unmarked police vehicles ready for the road.
While their exteriors must remain unidentifiable, the officers inside still need a hefty complement of their regular equipment and gear to operate safely. And because of the range of vehicles that can be used for undercover work, solutions for storage can be hard to standardize.
“There’s just such a variety of undercover vehicles that departments use,” said Ross Roberts, TruckVault’s marketing director. “They need to be discreet, and there aren’t really a lot of storage solutions out there made for those vehicles.”
Yet there’s a lot to carry. Beyond communication gear and other items that should remain within arm’s reach, undercover officers may also require tools for protection (e.g., additional firearms, body armor, less-lethal weapons, handcuffs), surveillance (binoculars, cameras, changes of clothing, laptops or tablets) and evidence collection (gloves, drug testing kits, bags and labels). They may also wish to carry first aid kits and/or medical supplies, backup items like spare batteries and chargers, and even water and snacks for long shifts.
That’s more than you can toss in the backseat, some of it dangerous and expensive. TruckVault’s solutions keep items secure, organized and protected not only from theft but from the wear and tear of banging around. Its systems protect against fire and moisture damage and provide a platform for fast and efficient operations – for officers who have to act quickly, knowing where everything is reduces time wasted searching.
“Efficient storage can impact response time,” noted Hanna. “If your gear is scattered all throughout the vehicle and you don’t know where certain pieces are, it will take you longer to actually put the things you need together.”
Undercover builds usually go in the trunk, out of sight of prying eyes. Designs are sleek and minimalist, developed around the items to be stored. Where there are windows, the company builds to a low profile with colors that blend in.
“We try to match to OEM carpet colors so it looks discreet if you’re looking in,” said Roberts. “That’s true for all of our products, but especially for undercover vehicles, it’s important that it looks like part of the vehicle.”
“Obviously there’s only so much you can do to hide a giant box if you look through the window,” Hanna added, “but if it already matches the rest of the vehicle, it’s not as intrusive. And it doesn’t weigh nearly as much as the alternatives.”
The build: ‘As accurate as possible’
The process begins with a three-dimensional scan of the space to be built in. TruckVault’s extensive experience has let it amass a comprehensive library of such scans, meaning that for many vehicles, the company already has the needed dimensions, knows details like the optimal lockdown points, and can get started without further measurement. TruckVault also works with dealerships to obtain scans of new vehicles as they enter the market.
“Sometimes there’s a bit of process in making sure we get that information up front and know what we can design around,” said Roberts. “But really, once we have that, for any product going forward, we already have the answers and know the base of what we need to design onto. Then it’s pretty easy at that point. It lets us be as accurate as possible.”
Even in undercover work, which could involve almost any vehicle ever made, certain models are used more commonly: Sedans like Camrys, Accords and Altimas are widely driven and blend in. SUVs and crossovers (Ford Escape, Chevy Equinox) are spacious and comfortable. Pickups (F-150, Silverado) are popular in certain regions. Tesla numbers are growing, and even minivans aren’t unheard of.
When models recur frequently, TruckVault may even go out and buy one of its own, so it has it on hand for various measurements.
“We just bought a 2025 Ford Expedition, and a lot of our R&D is going to be centered around that,” said Roberts. “It’s going to be a heavy request from customers, so we felt it would be worth it to go ahead and just buy our own.”
Systems come with numerous options
Whether the space they’re building for is a common one or a one-off, TruckVault clients have a good array of options to select from. These start with visual elements like drawer fronts and carpet colors.
“You can provide a lot of feedback on the visual appearance of it,” said Roberts. “If you want it to match a black interior, you can select a black drawer front with black carpet and black dividers and make it all as discreet as possible. Or if you want to match an interior carpet color like beige, you can select that as well.”
With many SUVs and crossovers lacking tailgates, work surfaces can be integrated with drawer systems. Tiedown rails can also let additional items be kept on top.
Inside, organizational accessories can help keep things sorted and accessible. TruckVault partners with SidioCrate for internal containers to hold gear and Magpul for organization and secure holding of firearms through its DAKA line. Interior lighting offers an infrared option.
“There are quite a few features,” said Roberts. “We can always customize or at least offer accessory options for almost any need customers have.”
With undercover vehicles, those needs can range from surveillance and investigations to traffic enforcement. And with another summer of protests potentially on the horizon, their importance to law enforcement seems likely to grow.
For more information, visit TruckVault.
