Inside the 'Bear': Exclusive look at NYPD vehicle used in Columbia response

NYPD's 'the bear'

Officers used a vehicle called the "bear" to get inside Hamilton Hall where many protestors were barricaded. FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt got an up close look at how the bear works.

NEW YORK CITY - When the NYPD cleared protesters from barricaded Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, it marked the debut of the "Bear", an armored vehicle.

The "Bear" can hold up to 40 members of the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit, known as ESU, a highly specialized team of officers.

The NYPD mobilized the Bear after protesters broke into Hamilton Hall, disabled the building's security cameras and barricaded entrances on the first floor.

Authorities said their only option was to use the vehicle to access a second-story window.

"It was the perfect use scenario in that it has the ability to deliver a lot of police officers very quickly into a location," Lieutenant Redmond said. "From the intelligence that we had, of what was taking place inside Hamilton Hall, we knew that all of the main entrance doors were heavily barricaded with physical structures, desks, chairs, tables, garbage cans, change locks."

"We knew we weren't going to enter the front doors of the building easily and quickly," Lieutenant Redmond said.

Lieutenant Redmond is in charge of ESU's Special Operations and gave FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt access to the "Bear".

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In addition to using the ramps to gain entry to Hamilton Hall, the Bear is equipped to handle just about any life-threatening crisis.

It is also on standby for large-scale events like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Times Square on New Year's Eve.

FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt asked, "So, The Bear has level four ballistic protection. Now, in layman's terms what does that mean?"

Lieutenant Redmond said, "So what that does is that it affords us a higher degree of protection from any sort of firearms or rifles or machine guns that we may encounter. This could essentially stop any bullet from any gun all day long and keep us protected inside."

The NYPD has two Bear armored vehicles and five Bearcats which are a smaller version of the Bear.

In addition to the ramps which allow entry to the second and third floors of a building, the Bear is equipped with a turret that can be used in a terror attack or active shooter situation.

"That turret allows us to exit the vehicle, stay partially protected with ballistic protection, but also return fire," Lieutenant Redmond said.

An infrared thermal camera system allows them to see in the dark and through smoky conditions. Then there’s a device that detects radiation.

"It has the ability to detect contaminated air such as biological or chemical agents," Lieutenant Redmond said. "And it'll give us an alert that the outside air is contaminated with either alpha, beta or gamma radiation."

Multiple bins contain medical supplies such as oxygen, bandages and medicine to treat an injured officer or civilian.

The NYPD stresses the goal of this armored vehicle is to preserve life.