Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter talks about and gives a tour of his agency's new Incident Command Vehicle.
Slaughter says it’s made for more than just one jurisdiction: “This vehicle is not just a Cascade County asset. It's a north central Montana asset as well.”
Undersheriff Scott Van Dyken led the charge for securing a highly competitive grant, about $700,000, from the Department of Homeland Security a couple years ago.
The new 32-foot rig is a step up from previously rented mobile command centers which often resembled construction site trailers.
Slaughter explained, “This gives us another level of better technology, cameras, radios, everything that you'd need to run a major incident in pretty much any environment.”
The rear of the vehicle can also function as a backup 911 center: “There are three stations. You'll see radios and everything we could in an emergency. We could run 911 from this vehicle.”
Toward the front, sliding doors separate a conference area for up to 10 people: “This would be a vehicle where we would have command come in and talk about various operations, make planning decisions, and whatnot.”
The vehicle, which was manufactured by a Kalispell company, has built in WiFi with a Starlink connection on the way for cell service from almost anywhere.
Information is gathered through a mast surrounded by infrared cameras.
The vehicle has yet to be deployed, but has been used for training purposes.
It can be used in numerous types of situations, such as SWAT, major tactical operations such as standoffs, wildland fires, and search and rescue operations.
Slaughter said, “Let's say there's a lost child in the community - this would become our incident command post.”
