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After a two-week search for a missing elderly man ended in tragedy last year, the Swanton Police Department in northwest Ohio has added surplus military motorcycles to its fleet to better reach remote trails and narrow farm lanes during emergencies.
The department obtained two off-road dirt bikes and a street motorcycle through the Defense Logistics Agency’s Law Enforcement Support Office, a congressionally authorized program commonly known as 1033 that allows federal, state and local agencies to receive excess military equipment at no cost. The program, administered by DLA Disposition Services and rooted in the National Defense Authorization Acts of 1990 and 1991, is intended to bolster public safety capabilities with repurposed gear.
Chief John Trejo said the prolonged search underscored how difficult the area’s rugged terrain can be for standard vehicles and K-9 teams. “There are trails and a lot of these woods, they’re just not suitable for like a regular ATV, like a four-wheel ATV,” Trejo said. “To be able to get back into those quickly, you know, whether it’s to go back and treat somebody … we can get people back to them or at least the equipment in a narrow path.”
Serving a village of nearly 4,000 residents west of Toledo with just 10 patrol officers, the agency faces persistent budget pressures. Outfitting the no-cost motorcycles with police lights requires far less spending than purchasing additional patrol vehicles, officials said. The plan is to reserve the dirt bikes for emergencies in wooded areas and deploy the street motorcycle for traffic control and outreach at local events. “[We’re] able to use that kind of in a more personable way of getting around and talking to the community members,” Trejo said.
The motorcycles join other LESO/1033 acquisitions by the department, including a generator, a utility vehicle and a trailer. Trejo said the equipment has been a valuable asset to both the agency and the community.
