Sentinel ARV haas seating for 10-12 people

April 8. By Dave Vieser. The Cornelius Town Board has approved the purchase of a $373,650 Emergency Sentinel Police Vehicle, using asset forfeiture funds. This will be the first time Cornelius Police will have such a vehicle in their fleet, and Chief David Baucom says it’s needed.

“This emergency vehicle will allow officers to safely deal with a wide variety of emergency calls where the lives of officers and the public are in danger,” Baucom said.

In 2024, four law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in Charlotte and several others were injured.

Quotable

Cornelius Police Chief David R. Baucom

“These types of vehicles were used by CMPD to evacuate and rescue officers that day and likely saved the lives of other injured officers. In Cornelius, there have been numerous dangerous events in the past and we would like the ability to respond quickly to incidents of this nature.”

—Chief Baucom

Background

All officers will eventually be trained on the new emergency vehicle, and Baucom said there would likely be a team which receives extraordinary training for highly unusual circumstances.

The chief also noted that consideration was given to a joint purchase with neighboring law enforcement agencies. However, Huntersville already has their own, and Davidson did not express any interest in partnering with Cornelius on this project.

To purchase the vehicle the town and the police department went through a Request For Proposal (RFP) process which led to four manufacturers submitting bids on this vehicle known as the Sentinel.

Details

International Armored Group of St. Augustine, Fla., was ultimately selected based on pricing, specifications required, and equipment offered.

Baucom expects the new vehicle to arrive in Cornelius approximately 180 days after the final agreement papers are completed and he believes the vehicle will last for at least 20 years.

“Our plans are to primarily use it for police related responses, but it can be used in many different types of calls including medical incidents, weather-related incidents, and really any incident where it might be useful.”