Posted: 1/29/2012 5:27:37 AM EDT
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Anyone read the Homeland Security site ? Interesting article about how many PDs throughout the country have been over militarized with post 9/11 tax dollars. Also the goverment claims they can't acconted for the dollars which has been spent. Imagine that ,the goverment can't account for the money spent . Thats easy to do when its not yours. Even some communites as small as 10k people have personnal carriers with even one department having a tank.
How about some of those clever thoughts |
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Local Cops Ready for War With Homeland Security-Funded Military Weapons Dec 21, 2011 4:45 AM EST A decade of billions in spending in the name of homeland security has armed local police departments with military-style equipment and a new commando mentality. But has it gone too far? Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz of the Center for Investigative Reporting report. Comments (726) Nestled amid plains so flat the locals joke you can watch your dog run away for miles, Fargo treasures its placid lifestyle, seldom pierced by the mayhem and violence common in other urban communities. North Dakota’s largest city has averaged fewer than two homicides a year since 2005, and there’s not been a single international terrorism prosecution in the last decade. But that hasn’t stopped authorities in Fargo and its surrounding county from going on an $8 million buying spree to arm police officers with the sort of gear once reserved only for soldiers fighting foreign wars. Every city squad car is equipped today with a military-style assault rifle, and officers can don Kevlar helmets able to withstand incoming fire from battlefield-grade ammunition. And for that epic confrontation—if it ever occurs—officers can now summon a new $256,643 armored truck, complete with a rotating turret. For now, though, the menacing truck is used mostly for training and appearances at the annual city picnic, where it’s been parked near the children’s bounce house. “Most people are so fascinated by it, because nothing happens here,” says Carol Archbold, a Fargo resident and criminal justice professor at North Dakota State University. “There’s no terrorism here.” Like Fargo, thousands of other local police departments nationwide have been amassing stockpiles of military-style equipment in the name of homeland security, aided by more than $34 billion in federal grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Daily Beast investigation conducted by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found. Interactive Map: States Spend Billions on Homeland Security |
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I think we have to realize that when homeland security dollars are spend on "terrorism", we have to accept that we have different kinds of domestic terrorists and emotionally disturbed people with access to various weaponry. I submit this LINK as just one example. I cant find pictures of the Armored vehicle that this person shot up as it was trying to reach downed officers, but If not for this $250,000 armored vehicle more officers and possibe civilians could/would have been killed.
I will break this trajedy down to cold dollars and cents. I know $250,000 is alot of money, but think in this example. Three officers killed. Each of these officer death benifits paid by their department, pensions transferred to their family, and the cost of hiring new officers to replace them. If this armored vehicle wasnt there, more officers would have been killed. Add them to the expense. In my opinion this armored vehicle is a reasonable priced insurance policy. My county shares one such vehicle. The bank robbery in california showed officers need more than just their service pistol to stop determined, well armed, and armored criminals. To me the expendature is worth it. I will agree that it is sad that our government can not account for where the money went. Just my .02 |
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OK, Ill Bite,
The APC needs to be parked somewhere right? 
That is until some nut job goes and barricades himself in a home with some of the tools that responsible members of this forum enjoy. Once that person is isolated and contained what happens next? You cant un do the initial trajedy. Do you charge in the home to get the aforementioned nut job putting more peoples lives in jeopardy? Get more people killed? No, you slow things down, move in your logistics such as negotiators, and the ninjas. How do you move these people into place, and neighbors out the line of fire? Some times you need to utilize an asset like an armored vehicle. We all know hiding behind or in a car is not cover, it is concealment. My county uses our APC all the time. It is standing by on scene every time the tac team goes to take down a drug house, or make high risk entries. Inside the APC are medical professionals ready to treat all parties if need be. I know these are hard financial times and we need to track where money goes. Shame on the government for not keeping track, but times have changed. We need the right tools for the job, and unless you have been in a situation where there is someone bunkered down with effective means of ending your life I can see this would seem as an over kill purchase. |
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My point was, he was using that link as his reason. Unless you're going to put every cop in one, that story still would have happened. Even if they drove up in one it still would have happened.
Fact is, they DID have one. Reading the story it didn't seem to help. "Poplawski opened fire at an Army SWAT vehicle that arrived around 8:30 a.m., preventing them and medics from reaching the wounded policemen. 
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Quoted:
My point was, he was using that link as his reason. Unless you're going to put every cop in one, that story still would have happened. Even if they drove up in one it still would have happened. Fact is, they DID have one. Reading the story it didn't seem to help. "Poplawski opened fire at an Army SWAT vehicle that arrived around 8:30 a.m., preventing them and medics from reaching the wounded policemen. I'm guessing that the confines of whatever area they were operating in prevented the APC from manuevering into a position where it could act as a shield for officers attempting to assist the fallen LEOs. |