How often do London police use their light armoured vehicles?

London police have used two light armoured vehicles (LAVs) donated by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) regularly in the last decade, documents obtained by CBC through a freedom of information request reveal. 

Since 2006, when the first LAV was donated, they have been deployed 39 times for investigative purposes, according to the documents. 

London police want to spend about $400,000 for a new light armoured vehicle — they're said still researching possible makes and models.

 The vast majority of the LAV deployments have been to deal with standoffs in which a barricaded person might have a firearm, said Insp. Dean Streefkerk, head of the patrol operations branch at London police, which includes the emergency response unit that handles the LAVs.  LAVs can be used to approach suspects or areas where suspects might be holed up with less risk to officer safety, he added. They can also be used to ram vehicles or buildings, if needed. 

"We want to ensure public safety and ensure that the officers who find themselves having to work in an incredibly violent or dangerous situation are able to do so with the best equipment," Streefkerk said. 

Documents prepared for CBC News reveal: 

• The first time the London police used a light armoured vehicle was in 2000. The LAV was borrowed from the OPP and took gunfire. The incident was an 11-hour standoff in Pond Mills that included dozens of rounds of gunfire after a man broke into his father's gun cabinet. 
• The LAVs have not taken gunfire since an incident in 2006. It involved a standoff with a man on Cheapside and Adelaide streets.
• In 2006, 2009 and 2011, the LAV was only used once. It wasn't used at all in 2007, 2008 and 2010 and twice in 2017. 
• In 2013 and 2014, the LAVs were deployed eight times, and in 2012 and 2018, six times. 
• Since 2013, the light armoured vehicles have been used in training 56 times and in displays 48 times. 

There are 20 officers trained to drive the LAVs, which have been de-militarized. 

The two LAVs London police have now were donated by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS). The older one is an RG-12, donated in 2005 when it was 20 years old, and the second an RG-31, donated in 2011. It was also about 20 years old when it was donated. 

"We're incredibly lucky that we got these, and we've derived a lot of benefits from them," Streefkerk said. "But both have outlived their usefulness. We just can't get parts for those vehicles anymore." 

Streekferk was an emergency response unit officer for 16 years and was involved in standoffs using the LAVs.

"Having been on those calls, having been one of those officers who took firsthand the threats that were being presented and the active gunfire, to see those vehicles deployed, it truly was a game changer," he said.

Militarization of police a concern

Kevin Walby is an associate professor in the criminal justice program at the University of Winnipeg. His research focuses on increasing SWAT deployments and the increased use of military-style equipment and clothing by local police services. 

"We're told these things are necessary because they're going to be used in situations where police and the public are in danger, situations like a public shooter or a mass casualty scenario," Walby said.

"And while these scenarios do occasionally occur in Canada, most of the time these armoured personnel carriers (or LAVs) are used for public relations management. They're taken to a fair or an event, a meeting with elementary or high school kids, and it's used to show off, to show that policing is cool." 

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But it also normalizes a "subtle militarization" of police, Walby said. 

"When you have this type of equipment used in PR, it makes it normal," he said. 

"But really it might be tactically necessary sometimes, in reality that's a fraction of the events it's used for. It's actually used to communicate police legitimacy, and the rest of the time it's collecting dust in an underground parking lot." 

Streefkerk said he knows there are concerns from some about the militarization of local police services. But he said the payoff for the bad optics is worth it. 

"It allows us to do our jobs in a safer, better manner," he said.

"The risk of public perception versus the risk to public safety don't begin to compare. I know the optics, but when you see the vehicle and how we are deploying it, you really realize that we truly are deploying it in the interest of the public that we serve."