Police Recruiting Video

[Pilgrim]

The thought of any college campus police dept having access to anything beyond tear gas and rubber guns is enough to give nightmares to any parent of college students. I still remember watching the riots at Kent State on TV when I was an undergrad - although that involved the National Guard, which at the time wasn't much different from the campus cops. Almost makes you hope OSU doesn't win another national championship in football, so the kids won't have a reason to celebrate.

 

[Turtle]

And then there is this:

(assuming it's true)

Cops at Ohio State have an armored fighting vehicle now | The Daily Caller

It's true. That article was from September of 2013. The state now has 8 MRAPs.

Here's the MRAP in Ft. Pierce, Florida.
Florida police department unveils new MRAP armored vehicle (VIDEO)

 

[iceroadtrucker]

The vandals that TP'd the mayor's trees.

Tree Tipping hmm that's like the farm boys fun of COW TIPPING HMMMM

 

[Ragman]

. . . COW TIPPING HMMMM

 

[cheri1122]

As noted, PDs aren't going out and buying this kind of military equipment, it's being passed on from the real military. There is a correlation in some minds that equates defense spending with patriotism, and the DoD takes full advantage. [As do the contractors.]
If the DoD got the kind of scrutiny every sitting potus [especially the current one] gets, we'd be better off, I think. Once we got over the shock, of course.
Just as a contrast, one of my facebook favorites is Chief David Oliver of Brimfield, Ohio, aka Cheep Otter. Chief Oliver is a Mayberry kind of guy, who hands out 'tickets' [good for a free ice cream cone] when he catches kids wearing a helmet while biking. One little guy was so happy to get a ticket, he said "I LOVE Cheep Otter!" and the name stuck, lol. [I love Cheep Otter, too, and have a t shirt that says so.]
Chief Oliver writes a folksy bit every now & then, describing policing from his viewpoint. Brimfield isn't a big city,but the problems include meth dealers and other major bad guys, and the Chief does a lot to explain how that impacts the law abiding citizens, and why he does what he does.
It's a nice counterpoint to the militarization of so many PDs, and a reminder that they aren't ALL "SEAL Team wannabees" - though I suspect the ones that are, are in the majority. And why not? It's [basically] FREE stuff, right?
Except it isn't: we [taxpayers] paid for it. A lot.

 

[Turtle]

"A new industry appears to be emerging just to convert those grants into battle-grade gear," Balko wrote. "That means we'll soon have powerful private interests, funded by government grants, who will lobby for more government grants to pay for further militarization — a police industrial complex."

Eight different law enforcement agencies in Indiana now have the coveted Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles that were formerly used in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mark Alesia reports for the Indy Star. (excellent article - read it). Pulaski County, home to 13,124 people, county seat Winamac, is one of those counties.

In the northern Indiana town of Walkerton, population 2,247, with 17 police officers and 11 dispatchers, the police department doesn't have an MRAP, but they do have two Humvees and four M16 rifles with holographic sights.


"If we were able to use it once — for what we got it for — it was worth it." - Mooreland Police Department marshal Jeff Murray on their new, free $75,000 hazardous material analyzer courtesy of federal grants of military surplus. Mooreland has the population of a Boeing 767 - which is 375 people.

 

[RoadTime]

Umm, question. What exactly are we hunting?

They were on the hunt for Gidget, former Taco Bell dog, who became a notorious drug dealer that was on the run.

 

[layoutshooter]

"The citizenry at large should have at its disposal the same exact weaponry to defend themselves that the state has to use on its citizenry."

The one, and ONLY reason, that Obama and Co., regardless of party, are trying to disarm the citizens is to ensure that the People are UNABLE, to keep their government under control. Governments throughout history have restricted the ownership of arms to protect, and grow, their power OVER the People. That is EXACTLY what we see taking place in this country today.