America's most in-demand police vehicle is a 10-officer 16,000-pound armored tank that takes bullets like Superman and drives 80 mph. The federal government buys dozens each year for local police departments. Do America's local police need tanks?
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20 comments:
There was a time when I would have asked the same question. However with the volitile actions of well armed terriorist and their willingness to kill, law enforcement is on the front line of the new kind of war.
Assume for a moment that a group of terriorist have taken over one of our local schools(as they did in Russia several years ago)and threaten to kill the students. They, of course will be well armed with weapons and explosive devices.
Law enforcement would be ill equipped to deal with this situation without a heavly armored vehicle.
It is a sad commentary but that is the way it is.
These are our kids and grand kids lets not quibble over spending money on the appropriate tools to protect them.
retired cop and proud NRA member
I am opposed to local police becoming a para-military component of the national Government.
I agree with 936. The police are the largest gang in America, and get away with everything from drug trafficking, murder, to extortion. Only thing is, they get away with it time and time again, that's how our system of law NOW works.
We need one for Booth Skeet!
I think the police may as well be wearing handcuffs. They are not allowed to do anything until the criminal shoots them 2 or three times and then the criminal will sue them.
Our wonderful Lawyers have screwed up the system.(gudges too)
Oh , and by the way , it going to get a whole lot worse.
If you rob a place then they should cut off 1 hand. If you rob again , cut off the other hand etc.
We need a police force that is conditioned to the mentality of the military. Use tanks , grenades,
automatic weapons and bombs.
If a prostitute is caught , sew her privates up with a boot lace and tie her in the middle of main street for the lawyers to see.
All of the sudden , NO more crime.
ever been to PG county? baltimore inner city? detroit? philly? chicago? LA?
there are plenty of place I could use this vehicle. Notice how all those lovely neighborhoods in those and many other cities have the same socio economic classes?
just makes you feel bad for the good people stuck in those areas with all those animals!
It takes one incident to hit close to home. Then the same people complaining about the police having this type of gear will be pointing fingers and crying that we should have been ready for it.
I trust that 936 & 1026 have made a note of the local phone number for the National Guard.
No. Law enforcement has no business having a tank. Law enforcement was never meant to be so powerful that it could subdue citizens. They are supposed to police society.....next they will want Apache Helios. Waste of money.....of course that is the governments motto
2:32 PM
Of course not. They live in their own little world.
As far as I'm concerned the police can have whatever they need as long as it doesn't infringe on my rights.
Cops are already out gunned. They going up against ak-47's with a 40 cal pistol and a vest.
Give them the damn tank and a raise too. And while you're at it, arm the tank too.
4:06.... You are delusional and uninformed. The police are NOT outgunned. They have automatic weapons, grenades, night vision optics, helicopters, snipers and now amored assault vehicles. With the authority to kill and maim at their pleasure, with little to no consequences (documented and factual information). They are more and more a military force and less and less a "police" force. And in the aformentioned "school hostage" situation, what will the police do with this vehicle that they couldn't do otherwise without it? It (the vehicle) will be VERY rarely used and will cost a lot of money --- a lot. Training, maintainence, upgrades, insurance, etc. How many towns and cities (who are already stone cold broke) can, or should, purchase this paramilitary assault vehicle?
The police only will need this vehicle when they need it. They can not order one up, when a school takeover or hostage situation takes place and if you think it wont happen here, just google it, it happens all of the time. It's not a tank its a armored vehicle, for defensive purposes only, its does not have a cannon on it. If something bad happens everyone immediatley screams help police, but they don't want to pay them or equip them. Those of you say call the Nantional Guard. Where do you think they will come from, the majority of them are over sees and they do not have armored vehicles here locally. Also, check the laws, the Nantional Guard can not take action without the order of the Governor, and most of the guardsman are spread out all over and most of them are cops and correctional officers anyway. It would take a day or two to activate them and by then the situation is over. So once again I say, don't pay them, dont' equip them and then DONT CALL THEM WHEN YOU NEED HELP.
1. Cops are not outgunned, many cops have an automatic rifle in their trunk.
2. An armored vehicle would do no good against terrorist holding a school hostage, it would only slow down a reaction force and entice the terrorist to kill their hostages before they martyr themselves.
Elected officials use the GRANT program to steer business to who the lobbyists pay them to do. Give a grant to Salisbury for example to purchase an uneeded fireboat and taxpayers from all over the State pay for it. The local taxpayers pay to maintain this junk.
Not hard to understand.
sounds like there are a lot of pot smoking, brainless hippies on here thinging that providing an armored vehicle to law enforcement would give the law the right to rape pillage and plunder. did you all ever think for on minute with your paranoid pea brains that maybe it could be used for personnel extraction in the event that the cops had to deal with an active shooter scenario? and as a side note, I know of NO officers in wicomico that carry "automatic" weapons in their trunks. Go back to smokin your weed in your parents basement.
To 5:00 6:29. You both must not understand the ballistics of ammunition. The police are out gunned. For one, a 7.62x39, which is a AK-47 round is way more powerful then the .40 S&W. Plus I see cops carrying more 9mm Handguns also. Look a what happened with our border patrol agents. They were sent out to confront these drug smugglers etc, with bean bag rounds. The officer that was killed the other week would still be alive if he had the proper equipment. The rifles and carbines the police carry are not as what you think. Yes, some of them are powerful enough, but others aren't. I believe the police should have a armored "tank". Tank is what I would not call it. It's an armored personnel carrier. Good for SWAT related ordeals, and busting down the door on drug houses. I suggest you all watch T.V. shows like Detroit: SWAT, or DEA, COPS, etc. maybe then you will understand.
5:00 PM
4:06.... You are delusional and uninformed
Coming from you this is hilarious. I am so tired of having to hold posters like you by the hand and explain every little nuance so you can comprehend.
"Scott Knight, the Chaska, Minn., chief of police and chairman of the firearms committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police...said law enforcers have seen an "uptick" in being outgunned since Congress allowed a 10-year federal ban on assault weapons to expire in 2004"
Typically, per capita police to citizen ratio is 1 police officer for every 1,000 people. If two people per 1000 is a person who is armed and possibly dangerous with criminal intent, that means that police are out gunned and out numbered two to one.
And then there are the 1 million gang members in 20,000 gangs in this country alone.
The facts are out there. I could go on and on and on. And to the others who say the 'tanks' are not armed, 'Fashioned from a Ford F-550 commercial truck chassis, Massachusetts-based Lenco builds about 200 such vehicles in year, in grades from "VIP SUV" to combat-ready with gun turrets'.
Some are.
So imclain go back to smoking your weed, drinking your beer and keep your rose colored glasses on. We don't want sunlight to kill any more of your depleted brain cells.
You will not win any arguments with insults and name calling no matter how red your face gets.
Please keep that in mind the next time you decide to take that leap.
there is a lot of paranoid douche bags on this site
when was the last time any of them walked a city street or taken a bus or ridden a subway
its just funny a bunch of isolated rednecks think its such a big ole scary world
Its just how the forces that be prefer to have people like that believe things are
keeps the fearful in their place
its a huge joke compared to the real suffering and strife that truly exists in this world
9:46 PM
That's part of the problem. Too many people watch t.v. and believe what they see.
Some people, as evidenced by some of these posts, cannot differentiate between what is true and what is ENTERTAINMENT.
They believe wrestling is real and cops routinely solve crimes in 60 minutes or less.
They are online posting their misinformed opinions but are too lazy to actually look up something.
In their twisted reality whatever they think is true and factual, regardless of the facts.
And they will insult you, call you names and all other vile reactions when presented with such.
I think doing a little research is more effective and more enlightening that watching a 'cop' show.
In the federal government's desire to bring all law enforcement up to par in meeting terroristic events, there have been large grants and funds issued to departments with the stipulation that they spend the funds on anti-terrorism training and readiness. Do police need armored vehicles? Most do not, obviously the armored vehicle does fit certain units, but it is not normally needed in most municipal departments.
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