Posted on 05/30/2009 6:56:12 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A $226,000 armored vehicle for the North Richland Hills Police Department SWAT team arrived a few days ago to replace one the agency got in 1990.
To many people that vehicle — and others like it used by police departments across the country — will go unnoticed. The public seems to largely accept the use of military-type equipment, technology and tactics as not only appropriate but also necessary to fight crime and make communities more safe and secure.
Armored vehicles are used by law enforcement agencies in Fort Worth, Arlington and Bedford and at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, just to name a few. Some police departments have assault rifles, noise-flash devices and grenade launchers. Arlington even sought federal money for a drone aircraft.
But some criminal-justice experts are troubled by law enforcement agencies’ growing use of military-style equipment. Rather than employ such equipment only in extreme situations, the critics say, their use is becoming commonplace, leading police to use unnecessary force and intimidating residents. For example, some cite an episode last year in which police used a battering ram to raid a Duncanville swingers club when no one answered a knock.
"We have been witnesses to a little-noticed but nonetheless momentous historical change — the traditional distinctions between military/police, war/law and internal/external security are rapidly blurring," said criminal justice professor Peter Kraska, of Eastern Kentucky University, in one on his studies on the militarization of police departments.
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
ping
I think you will need at least a Ford F450 for starters.
BINGO!!!!
“How will History deal with US?
As Romans or Spartans?”
Unless we get real about Islam, the correct answer to your question may well be, “As dhimmi”.
Islam Delenda Est
No, thanks.
I had my last halfway-decent "contact" with LEO's in the 1960's.
What’s a milspec civilian hummer cost these days?
They have to be cheaper than this boonedoogle.
How many dogs can they kill with that thing?
“Could this be partly getting ready for the next tea parties?”
....nope, just geting ready for the coming break up of America:
http://www.timebomb2000.com/misc/CWII.pdf
“... some cite an episode last year in which police used a battering ram to raid a Duncanville swingers club when no one answered a knock.”
I think that the use of a battering ram hardly constitutes the use of “military equipment”. If you actually have to have a SWAT team, enough gun(s) to do the job, armor to protect the team, and the proper training to accomplish the mission would be right up there in my book. MP5’s, AR-15’s and Rem. 700 SPS’s have been used by cops for a long time. All are “sorta” military weapons, but lots of military weapons are “sorta” civilian weapons as well so there’s really no hard and fast way to draw the line between either. It’s foolish to try to define what is “military” in hopes of using the distinction for control or prohibition.
Cops should use what is necessary to get the job done, and not get themselves hurt. Otherwise, why have cops? Just hire more social workers.
Hell no only when they grow up and start acting like real cops instead of para military thugs.
.
Better trained cops - ex-military
Would be a better way to go
The usual PD firearms training/practice is usually pretty sparse and accuracy is quite sad
I’d be curious to know what the hell North Richland Hills used the previous such vehicle for?
It should be a matter of public record what it was used for - besides their “dress-up and play soldier” exercises...
Buncha pseudo-military jackasses are running aournd wasting their time and our money pretending to be soldiers when we’ve got a real war they could go volunteer for - but shoot; in Afghanistan, the bad guys shoot back!
Makes you want to tell them there’s always Paintball they could go play at!
“The usual PD firearms training/practice is usually pretty sparse and accuracy is quite sad”
Agreed, your average beat cop is hardly a weapons/tactics expert. Hopefully, SWAT folks get better training, which begs the question of whether there is any national standards for SWAT training, and how consistent are the teams trained to the standard. Obiously, no standards and no adherence to them can cause a heap o’ trouble.
Urban Gorilla kits
http://www.4x4bodies.com/
I found a website that is selling a used Hummers with 15,000 miles on the clock for $35,000
ping
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