Re: Law enforcement now getting MRAPs?

2
Twenty years ago, one of the arguments for the 1994 federal AWB was that the criminals were more heavily armed than the police. That is clearly no longer the case. With all the shootings and thugish behavior of the police, it's getting a bit worrisome. I do understand they have a dangerous job, however, there are regular reportings of corruption in the police force, sometimes involving several officers (e.g. recent PA corruption). Then there's the politicians who influence the security forces... Not a whole lot of trust is left anymore.

Re: Law enforcement now getting MRAPs?

5
9-11 meant that "war was coming to our shores" so these fear lead republicans, starting thinking we needed to be ready for Red Dawn. Many sheriffs are republicans, many bought the fear mongering crap that lead to police militarization. What you see today is the culmination of Bush Policy.

In a world of instant gratification, we often forget that policy lags behind the policy makers. It takes time for policy to be implemented and once it gets implemented, often those who made the policy are gone from office.

Police militarization is a reaction to 9-11, and it will take time and effort to get the militarized aspect of our local police forces (for lack of a better term) demilitarized.

Arms dealers are quick to sell to fear driven republicans. Sheriffs are no exception.

MRAPS, revolving mag grenade launchers (for tear gas only, right?), Surplus select fire rifles and carbines....

I'm not a big fan of the "uphold the law crowd" when so many of our laws are shit; and I'm so much less a fan of the "we need the heavy weapons to fight the terrorists" crowd now that we see that what they meant when they said "Terrorist" was really "uppity".
E pluribus unum

Re: Law enforcement now getting MRAPs?

7
wifesbane wrote:....there are regular reportings of corruption in the police force,...[Emphasis mine - SG]
THEpolice force? There are at least 12,000 (depending on who's counting) separate police forces in the US today.
"There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion."
The Right Reverend John England, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston SC, 1825.

Re: Law enforcement now getting MRAPs?

9
MRAPs were designed for a specific field of war to meet a specific threat. As the war winds down, we don't need as many. The options appear to be limited. Junk them, store them, sell them to agencies that see a need for them.

A heavy 4wd with a high center seems like a good vehicle to have for emergencies-storms, floods, riots. In MN, the National Guard gets called out in winter to use tracked personnel carriers for rescue during blizzards. Large army trucks are used in floods.

As the cops have training (SWAT) and weapons most don't and already have armored vehicles available, I don't see this as increasing the risk of a coup d'etat by the cops. If the cops don't have them, the military does. As the military has several thousand MBTs in reserve storage and lots of ammo, how does a few MRAPs change anything?
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: Law enforcement now getting MRAPs?

10
dougb wrote:MRAPs were designed for a specific field of war to meet a specific threat. As the war winds down, we don't need as many. The options appear to be limited. Junk them, store them, sell them to agencies that see a need for them.

A heavy 4wd with a high center seems like a good vehicle to have for emergencies-storms, floods, riots. In MN, the National Guard gets called out in winter to use tracked personnel carriers for rescue during blizzards. Large army trucks are used in floods.

As the cops have training (SWAT) and weapons most don't and already have armored vehicles available, I don't see this as increasing the risk of a coup d'etat by the cops. If the cops don't have them, the military does. As the military has several thousand MBTs in reserve storage and lots of ammo, how does a few MRAPs change anything?
The military aren't the ones out patrolling the streets. There's a difference between a nationally organized force dedicated to defending a nation and a locally organized department to enforce the law and keep the peace day to day. One has a need for armored vehicles and sophisticated weaponry while the other has a need for a small fast cruising car and sidearms. Your point about using them to pull things out and use during natural disasters, there are plenty of commercially available vehicles that can do the same thing and cost way less to maintain. Calling out the national guard is a different matter due to the fact that the state is given money to maintain the APCs and that's part of the reason the National Guard is there. Where as SWAT teams were originally supposed to be made of a select few officers and used only in extreme situations. Having all officers trained for that duty and using them as intimidating and violent force against relatively peaceful protests where no one is being shot it turns them from police to a small local army to be used at the will of the city or county. How do you expect people to react when they see "police officers" armed to the teeth wearing military battle uniforms and riding in armored vehicles?
All problems can be solved with a copious amount of high explosives.

Re: Law enforcement now getting MRAPs?

11
It doesn't help matters that DoD has the 1033 program which makes it oh so easy for law enforcement agencies to get all kinds of military equipment - for just the cost of shipping.
How can they resist free weapons and MRAPs?
Hell is where:
The British are the chefs
The Swiss are the lovers
The French are the mechanics
The Italians make everything run on time
And the Germans are the police

Re: Law enforcement now getting MRAPs?

12
M4Builder wrote: The military aren't the ones out patrolling the streets.

...and Cops aren't patrolling in MRAPs either. Most are acquired with a intent to replace old SWAT vehicles(instead of the county dropping a couple hundred grand on a new armored van) or some form of crowd control duty.

The MRAPs that have been acquired to replace SWAT vehicles aren't the problem. The current trend in police "culture" that's Force Protection Above All(no-knock warrants,responding to problems with overwhelming force) is.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests