[nickcarraway]

What happened to defund the police.

I guess they need this level of weaponry to deal with traditional Catholics.

[ConservaTexan]

Are there manned drones?

[SecondAmendment]

> "We know that the purpose of having military weaponry is not to keep us safe,” said James Burch, with Oakland’s Anti Police-Terror Project, an activist organization that works to reduce community reliance on local law enforcement agencies. “It’s to terrorize our communities and to increase capacity for surveillance and control.”

Methinks Mister Burch (he/him/XY-Chromosome) has the local police mixed up with the ATF, DHS, FBI, and IRS.

[cyclotic]

My somewhat conservative county had a lefty sheriff who was fixated on having a helicopter. He went around the process to buy one.

It partially cost him his job. The first thing his replacement did was sell the helicopter. State police and the next county over have airships to cover as needed by contract.

[wastedyears]

The police are the standing army the Founders warned us about.

[momincombatboots]

Posse commitatus workaround. Patriot act ensuring the department is
F Ed has better weapons than citizens.
Support the thin blue line on this at you’re own peril.

[Panzerfaust]

I have an armored car and it’s fun to drive. It hasn’t harmed anyone since it was used in Vietnam during the war….. The local police think it’s cool, nobody freaks out over it. Must be California types are easily excited.

[Zhang Fei]

[I guess they need this level of weaponry to deal with traditional Catholics. ]

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Drones that perform the surveillance work with which choppers are traditionally tasked, at a far lower price and with fewer mishaps, but much better coverage? The “military-grade” is just the author leaning on one side of the scale, to gin up outrage that cops are using anything that might lead to criminals escaping vehicular pursuits.