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from the articles-that-are-plotlines-to-movies dept.
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: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 12 2014, @01:16AM
It is about the toys. Here is my relevant anecdote.
A while back our neighborhood had a community fair one Saturday morning. The volunteer fire department rolled up with a shiny red ladder truck, and they were promptly mobbed by everyone under 12 who wanted to sit on the bench and get their picture taken while sitting on the front bumper.
Well, the rec center happens to have a sheriff's substation located in it. While my kids were exploring the fire truck, two of the deputies come out and I see them whispering to each other and pointing at the truck. Then one of them gets on the radio.
Not less than five minutes later, we hear a siren. Pulling up next to the fire truck was a brand-new APC, painted olive green and crewed by three guys in full tac gear. Very Call of Duty. You never saw such smug satisfaction as I saw on the faces of those two cops when all the kids jumped off the fire truck to take a turn standing in the turret of the APC.