When Mayor Jeff Krauss logged onto Facebook on Friday night, he was surprised to learn the city owned a new armored rescue vehicle.

"It was a vehicle we never discussed. No one told me we needed this," Krauss said. "It raised a lot of questions for me."

The vehicle, a Lenco BearCat G3, was fully paid for by a grant through the Homeland Security Grant Program.

Typically, city staff approaches the City Commission for approval before applying for grants, but that didn't happen this time.

At Monday night's City Commission meeting, City Manager Chris Kukulski told commissioners that a mistake was made - the grant application never came before the City Commission.

In fact, only one city commissioner knew about it prior to the mayor seeing it on Facebook.

Commissioner Chris Mehl was on a police ride-along one night when he caught a glimpse of the vehicle parked at the Law and Justice Center.

Mehl admits he thought it was odd when he saw it, but he has talked with police and is convinced it's something the city needs.

"I hope that we never use this, but it was free," Mehl said.

Krauss isn't convinced.

He said adding the "urban assault vehicle" to the police department's fleet seems like an escalation of police activity.

"I'm not convinced that we need this. It had never been identified as a need in my 11 years here," Krauss said.

He added that the City Commission approves the addition of all vehicles, from police motorcycles to forestry trucks.

The matter will now go through the usual process. The grant application will go before the City Commission at an upcoming meeting.

"We'll do it as soon as we can," Kukulski said.

But that doesn't mean the vehicle is here to stay. As Krauss pointed out, the commission could reject the grant.

The vehicle has flown under the radar of city leaders since it arrived in May. Law enforcement personnel were trained on it in late August. It's now ready for use.

Training was also included in the grant, Police Chief Ron Price said. The $253,537 covered the cost of the vehicle, transport and training, he said.

The four-wheel drive truck, modified to support bullet-proof protection, can transport 10 adults and will be used to support Bozeman police and other agencies in southwest Montana, Price said. It will be operated by members of the police and Gallatin County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team.

Price called the vehicle a "regional asset," which fills a gap for safe response in southwest Montana. When asked if he thought it was a necessary piece of equipment, he answered, "I do."

"It's only to be used during an incident where shots have been fired or there's a high risk of shots being fired," Price said.

It can be used as a crisis negotiation vehicle, crime scene processing van, incident command vehicle, among other uses.

"Militarization is less about equipment and more about how it's used and how you work with your community," Price said.

Other Montana cities - Missoula, Billings, Great Falls, Helena and Kalispell - have similar vehicles, he said.