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Jeremy Bender reports that eight different law enforcement agencies in Indiana have purchased massive Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs) that were formerly used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The MRAP is a bulletproof, 60,000-pound, six-wheeled behemoth with heavy armor, a gunner's turret and the word "SHERIFF" emblazoned on its flank.
Pulaski County, home to 13,124 people, is one of the counties that have purchased an MRAP from military surplus. When asked to justify the purchase of a former military vehicle, Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer told the Indy Star:
"The United States of America has become a war zone. There's violence in the workplace, there's violence in schools and there's violence in the streets. You are seeing police departments going to a semi-military format because of the threats we have to counteract. If driving a military vehicle is going to protect officers, then that's what I'm going to do."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 11 2014, @09:00PM
My small city already has an MRAP. They paid for shipping, a few thousand dollars, and that was it.
So this year, despite crime being down another year in a row, the police department decided they need horses! Why the fuck do they need horses? When asked this the police chief told a rambling story about his John Wayne hard-on and how he fell in love with cops on horses when he saw an officer jump off a horse and tackle a suspect. Yeehaw! He then went on to say how he wanted a camera and a cop on every corner just like a big city.