# Lenco BearCat

The Lenco BearCat is a wheeled SWAT vehicle designed for military and law enforcement use. It is in use by numerous military forces and law enforcement agencies around the world.

## History

Since 1981 the Massachusetts-based Lenco Industries, known as Lenco Armored Vehicles, has designed and manufactured armored vehicles for law enforcement, military, government and private security forces. Lenco has produced more than 5,000 armored vehicles for use in more than 40 countries worldwide.
The BearCat is used by numerous U.S. military and law enforcement agencies and is also used by all state and territory Police Tactical Groups in Australia with federal Australian Government funding. The Bearcat is based on a Ford F-550 Super Duty commercial truck chassis with two available engines (the V10 Triton Gasoline and the 6.7L Turbo Diesel), and a six-speed automatic transmission. The .5-1.5 inch thick mil spec steel armored bodywork is completed with .50 BMG rated ballistic glass capable of multi-hits, blast-resistant floors, gunports, roof hatches/turret and agency specific equipment and/or modifications such as lights/sirens/battering ram/winches/thermal cameras and spot lights.
The first BearCat was designed and completed in August 2001 as a spin-off product of the larger B.E.A.R. [nl], with input from Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) as an updated and improved version of their military surplus Cadillac Gage Ranger "PeaceKeeper" armored vehicles.

## Usage

BearCats are typically referred to by law enforcement agencies as being "armored rescue vehicles" with their primary use being to transport tactical (SWAT/Special Reaction Teams) officers to and from hostile situations and to assist with the recovery and protection of civilians in harm's way during terrorist threats, hostage incidents, or encounters with large gatherings of aggressors. The BearCat is designed to provide protection from a variety of small arms, explosives and IED threats. Like its larger cousin, the B.E.A.R. [nl], the BearCat is able to be fitted with the "MARS" Mobile Adjustable Ramp System which allows tactical officers to gain entry to elevated platforms such as second story windows or aircraft.
Lenco BearCats have been credited with saving the lives of officers in armed confrontations on numerous occasions. In 2010 in Athens, Texas during a shootout with police, a man fired 36 rounds from a semi-automatic AK-47 rifle at a BearCat to little effect. Tyler PD SWAT Commander Rusty Jacks said that the BearCat "allowed officers to approach the house safely and protected them under heavy fire from a very high-powered rifle". In June 2012 a BearCat, belonging to the Central Bucks Emergency Response Team, took 28 rounds from a "high-powered rifle" during a siege with no rounds penetrating the vehicle. In November 2015, a BearCat was used by police to rescue civilians during the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting. The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office BearCat was shot between four and seven times with a rifle during an incident on December 29, 2015. Sheriff Whetsel was quoted as saying the BearCat saved the Deputies' lives. On June 12, 2016, a BearCat was used to breach Pulse nightclub after a gunman shot and killed 49 clubgoers and injured 53 others.

## Variants

At present there are ten variants of the BearCat, some with unique features and others designed for specific purposes or customers.
* G2 – base variant for law enforcement
* G3 – off-road variant for law enforcement
* G4 M-ATV – armored all-terrain vehicle (Generation 4)
* X3 – double-cab pick-up variant of G3
* Military – Military version
* LE – Law enforcement version
* VIP/SUV – armored vehicle for diplomatic missions
* Medevac LE – armored medical evacuation vehicle (law enforcement) "MedCat" – equipped with two medical litters, oxygen tanks, a lighted work station, and compartments for medical supplies and gear storage.
* Medevac Mil – armored medical evacuation vehicle (military) "MedCat" – designed for Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3), equipped with same features as the MedCat LE with four medical litters.
* Riot control
* FireCat – fire-fighting variant of X3
* EOD (Explosive ordnance disposal) – armored vehicle "BombCat" for bomb units with room for a large bomb disposal robot, with fold-down ramp and hydraulically controlled platform for deployment. Also can include roof-mounted zoom camera with scene lighting, thermal camera, CBRNE equipment, and advanced communications sensors upon request.
* Rail Rescue Vehicle - A hi-rail variant of the BearCat operated by the MARTA Police Department.

## Features

The BearCat series is customizable with a variety of non-standard features depending on the customers' requirements. BearCats are able to be fitted with moveable elevated platform systems called the Liberator and ARC by Patriot3, Inc., to enable tactical units to access a variety of elevated structures such as multi-story buildings, ships at docks, or aircraft during high-risk hostage or terrorist situations. The LAPD fits one of its four armoured Lenco vehicles with one such system along with many other local and state law enforcement agencies.
Some of the BearCat's features include:
* emergency lights/sirens
* rotating roof hatch
* optional powered turrets with or without ballistic glass panels and blast shields
* gun ports
* electric winches
* running boards
* protection against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives (CBRNE)
* back-up camera
* Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS)
* battering ram attachment
* CS gas (tear gas) deployment nozzle
* radiation detection systems
* Thermographic camera systems
* spot/flood lights

## Operators

BearCats of various configurations are in use by the following agencies and departments around the world with over 500 in use in the United States alone.
Australia
* Australian Federal Police – Specialist Response Group
* New South Wales Police Force – Tactical Operations Unit ×3 (One each of the 2003, 2012 and 2018 variant)
* Northern Territory Police – Territory Response Group
* Queensland Police Service – Special Emergency Response Team ×3 (including EOD variant)
* South Australia Police – Special Tasks and Rescue Group
* Tasmania Police – Special Operations Group
* Victoria Police – Special Operations Group ×2 (2018 variant) and Critical Incident Response Team x1 (2013 variant)
* Western Australia Police – Tactical Response Group ×2
Bangladesh
* Bangladesh Police
* Bangladesh Ansar
* Border Guard Bangladesh
Belgium
* Antwerp Local Police
Brazil
* Military Police of Goiás State – Batalhão de Operações Especiais
Canada
* Ottawa Police Service – Tactical Unit
* Saskatoon Police Service – Emergency Response Team
Denmark
* Politiets Aktionsstyrke
Hungary
* Counter Terrorism Centre
Jamaica
* Jamaica Constabulary Force
Mexico
* Attorney General's Office of the State of Durango
* Attorney General's Office of the State of Jalisco
* Attorney General's Office (México) - vehicles used to transfer prisoners and objects in custody.
* Municipal Police of Tijuana – 1 Bearcat LE, belonging to the Special Tactical Unit.
Morocco
* Moroccan Auxiliary Forces – 88 BearCat armored vehicles in riot control, troop transport, communications, convoy protection, and SWAT variants.
* BCIJ (Bureau Central d'Investigations Judiciaires), Moroccan Domestic Intelligence Unit & Special Forces.
Netherlands
* National Police Corps - Multiple Lenco BEARs and Lenco BearCats in service with the Dienst Speciale Interventies (Special Intervention Service). A police service consisting of both military and police personnel, specialized in counter-terrorism ops, apprehension of high-value or high-risk individuals, aircraft hijackings and hostage situations. Also includes operators belonging to M-Squadron of NLMARSOF, special operations forces of the Netherlands Marine Corps, under DSI command for domestic counter-terrorism operations on Dutch soil, specialized in large-scale and complex interventions.
Serbia
* Serbian Armed Forces - Military Police
South Korea
* National Police Agency (South Korea) - Korea National Police Special Operation Unit
Taiwan
* National Police Agency (Taiwan) - National Police Agency Special Operations Group
United States
Federal Law Enforcement
* Federal Bureau of Investigation – Special Weapons and Tactics Teams
* United States Department of Energy Over 80 Lenco BearCats on (8) DoE Sites
* U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement –
** Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) – Special Response Teams
** Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Special Response Teams
* United States Park Police
* Kennedy Space Center – Emergency Response Team
State/Local Law Enforcement
* Alaska State Troopers – 3
* Bergen County Regional SWAT team
* Berrien County Sheriff's Office SWAT
* Bloomington Police Department
* Boulder County Sheriff
* Burbank Police Department – S.W.A.T
* Central Bucks Emergency Response Team
* Chicago Police Department – S.W.A.T
* Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, CCSO SWAT. Clackamas County, Oregon - 2x Bearcat
* Cleveland Division of Police - S.W.A.T.
* Concord, New Hampshire, Police Department
* Coweta County Sheriff's Office, S.W.A.T. Coweta County, GA
* Dallas Police Department (Texas) – S.W.A.T x 2
* Denver Police Department – S.W.A.T
* Des Moines Police Department; Des Moines, IA
* Douglas County (CO) Sheriff -SWAT
* Edmond Oklahoma Police Department - SWAT
* Erie (PA) Bureau of Police
* Gresham (OR) Police Department - S.W.A.T.
* Honolulu Police Department – Specialized Services Division
* Hudson County Sheriff's Department – S.W.A.T
* Humboldt County (CA) Sheriff's Department
* Kansas Highway Patrol - Special Response Team and Mobile Field Force
* Keene, New Hampshire Police Department- S.W.A.T.
* Louisiana State Police – S.W.A.T
* Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department – Special Enforcement Bureau ×6 (One B.E.A.R, three BearCats, two Paramedic or MedCats)
* Los Angeles Police Department – S.W.A.T ×4 (One B.E.A.R, two BearCats and one MedCat variant)
* Lower Columbia SWAT, Cowlitz, Clark, Skamania, and Wahkiakum Counties – Washington State.
* Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Marion County, Oregon - 1x Bearcat
* Maryland State Police – Special Tactical Assault Team Element (S.T.A.T.E.)
* Miami Dade Police Department – S.R.T
* Miami-Dade Police Department Special Response Team
* Michigan State Police - Emergency Response Team
* Montrose County Colorado sheriff department
* St Louis Metro Police Department– S.W.A.T
* Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Tennessee
* New Mexico State Police – Tactical Team
* New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit ×2
* North Haven CT Regional SWAT Team
* Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC)
* Oakland County Sheriff's Office's SWAT
* Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office's Special Response Team
* Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office's SWAT
* Orlando Police Department
* Pasadena Police Department – S.W.A.T
* Passaic County Sheriff's Department's SWAT
* Portland Police Bureau (PPB), Special Emergency Response Team, Portland, OR x 2 Bearcats, 1 Medcat
* Portland Port Authority (PPA), Special Emergency Response Team, Portland, OR x 2 Bearcats
* Prince George's County Police Department https://www.jba.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1690289/11-sfs-pg-county-police-train-for-hostage-situations/
* Prince George's County Sheriff's Office
* Prince William County Police Department SWAT
* Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake
* Riley County, KS Police Department
* Roseville Police Department – S.W.A.T and E.O.D
* Sacramento Police Department – S.W.A.T
* San Diego Police Department (California) – S.W.A.T
* San Francisco Police Department – S.W.A.T
* Santa Barbara Police Department
* Seaside Police Department (California)
* Southeast Idaho SWAT team
* St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office – Crisis Management Unit (CMU)
* Stockton Police Department (California) – S.W.A.T
* Region 1 SWAT Team - Snohomish County Sheriff and Everett PD
* Springfield Missouri Police - Special Response Team (SRT)
* York County (Pennsylvania) Quick Response Team
* Walworth County Sheriff's Office (Wisconsin)
* Western Wayne County Special Operations Team (Michigan)
* Bellevue Police Department, Washington - SWAT
* Henry County, IN SWAT
Military
* United States Air Force 91st Security Forces Group
* United States Air Force Global Strike Command – (6) Air Force Bases – 60 BearCats for Nuclear Missile Convoy Protection
* Marine Corps Security Force Regiment
* United States Army BearCats used for US Army Military Police Special Reaction Teams
** Fort Carson, CO
** Fort Hood, TX
** Fort Riley, KS
** Fort Bragg, NC
** US Army, 94th MP BN Korea
* United States Navy SWFPAC & SWFLANT (Strategic Weapons Facilities / Pacific & Atlantic – Over 100 BearCats for Perimeter Patrol & Security)
Other
* Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority - Rail Rescue Vehicle (Hi-Rail modified Bearcat G3)
* Syrian Democratic Forces