Why do Sheriff's departments need vehicles like this:

[Earth_First]

WTF are they equipping themselves for?!

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. Whatever it is, we've got to stop it now.

[Earth_First]

7. No kidding...

I could understand when once upon a time, a department had a well-trained SWAT team and a few beefy vehicles to keep order in one of those extreme circumstance type situations...

However, it seems that across the nation these departments are in a race to see who can 'militarize' their departments with the latest-and-greatest in civilian insurrection equipment.

This bugs the shit out of me...

[Warpy]

2. To get around Posse Comitatus

The incredibly paranoid Nixon thought college kids were going to overthrow him, so he started to militarize police departments around the country. Since his reign, the pretext has always been the violence of the drug war but the truth is that they've been militarized to keep me and thee in line.

[grasswire]

3. because defense contractors are making $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ from them!

Follow the dollar.

[hootinholler]

21. And the Fed is picking up the tab n/t

[Speck Tater]

4. Because the cops are Marines wanna-be's? nt

[Desertrose]

5. Cops or military...no difference anymore it would seem.

Yeah...this insanity HAS to stop!!!

[csziggy]

6. Because they'd rather spend money on those expensive toys

Than pay their officers more money or give them better health care or fund their pensions.

Or maybe it's because they get subsidies to buy these toys because lobbyists convinced Congress that the industries that make them need money more than any of the other things I listed.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

8. So they have better stuff than our soldiers- wonderful- I doubt they'll get hit with an IED

[Divine Discontent]

28. oh but see, they talk up the protesters as being dangerous, so they need these military vehicles

disgusting bullies. oink.


Get it now, or one of a million other designs! http://www.zazzle.com/republicans_2012_keeping_millions_out_of_work_bumper_sticker-128659602907896843?rf=238107662556833486

[Capitalocracy]

9. Is he holding his gun gangsta style in the third photo?

I think that pretty much explains why they have these things. Or at least one of the reasons.

[hobbit709]

10. Because they all want to be Jack Bauer

And it looks real impressive when they bust down some druggies house.

it's compensation for Teeny-Weeny Syndrome.

[Downwinder]

11. To put down insurrections. Armed or otherwise.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

12. Btw the 3rd pic- that is a Barrett .50cal

[Earth_First]

13. ...and what is the need for a civilian police force to have something like this?

:shrug:

[Dragonbreathp9d]

41. Nothing- it's design is for mile+ antipersonnel , or anti-vehicle

[EFerrari]

14. Because they have dicks like this.

[MedleyMisty]

15. To put down OWS

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

16. If citizens are allowed to own them, why not the police?

I've always fancied a tank or an APC... I just don't have the disposable income. :(

[CreekDog]

17. this is to be used to catch Bin Laden

or scare hippies.

:wtf:

[CoffeeCat]

18. The police absolutely need equipment like this...

The police must protect themselves from unarmed 70-year olds who may not
succumb to the pepper spray. And also the peaceful college students
who protest. You can't be too careful, and as many armed vehicles and
semi-automatic weapons is essential! People peacefully assembling is
terrifying and the police must protect themselves, for sure!

:sarcasm: on steroids.

[sandyj999]

19. It makes them feel omnipotent and manly. This is to stop protesters no doubt. Just mow 'em down.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. LAPD started police departments on the path towards vehicle like that back in the 80s

LAPD was ramming doors down with vehicles to get to drug violaters. the TV show swat was based on LAPD.

[Prometheus Bound]

22. To fight an enemy they find intimidating.

[bvar22]

59. Exactly!

They are afraid,
Very afraid,
and they should be.


"The line it is drawn.
The curse it is cast."

Choose wisely where you stand.



Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[hootinholler]

23. To pull trucks out of the mud bog competition?

:shrug:

[madokie]

24. Kinda looks like they got something in mind

If those were all in one area I'd be worried for sure.

[eShirl]

25. For busting pot-smoking, crippled old grannies with.

[AsahinaKimi]

26. Whats next? Blue Thunder?

[sabrina 1]

27. Because for some reason, they view the American people as

a threat, the enemy. Something seriously needs to be done about all of this. Who is responsible for turning civilian police departments into military units? We have a military. Apparently we no longer have a civilian police force.

[onethatcares]

29. Tampa needs one because the

repub convention is gonna be here in 2012 and a vehicle like that will be needed to keep the family value guys out of the Mons Venus and the Pink Pony.

In answer to your question of what are they equipping themselves for: It's to bash some hippie heads and show us all what democracy in the United but divided States of America means.

[KT2000]

30. Spiffy toys

likely paid for by Homeland Security.
This country had gone mad.

[lunatica]

31. Maybe we really do have a police state

I'm not being sarcastic either. You pose an excellent question.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

52. Ever fly recently? There is no maybe.

[RaleighNCDUer]

32. Because populace suppression is more fun than crime prevention. nt

[jmowreader]

33. For the same reason Gerald Hege needed a machinegun

It's for intimidation.

[benld74]

34. ALL this crap purchased with OUR tax money in the name of Homeland Defense!!!!

[moondust]

35. Right wing militias?

Weapons manufacturers want more customers?

Armored vehicle deployment can and should be left to the National Guard if actually necessary--no doubt extremely rare. Cops don't need those things. Waste of resources.

Fascism on the march...

[Hutzpa]

36. The third image reminds me of Nazi Germany

I remember seeing photos of Nazi Germany with their soldiers wearing the same type of
helmet and gear.

[Better Believe It]

37. For crowd control and to fight terrorists?

[fascisthunter]

38. to oppress

[begin_within]

39. they're equipping themselves for for Class Warfare.

[Better Believe It]

40. How many federal "stimulus" dollars have financed this crap?

[B Calm]

44. More like how many speeding tickets to truck drivers financed this crap

[PETRUS]

42. BIG...HARD... armored vehicles. Compensation, maybe?

[Scruffy1]

43. This is what fascism looks like.

Anybody who doubts they live in a fascist state wasn't in St. Paul for the RNC. Are only defense is 3too many of us to kill.

[Major Hogwash]

45. The tracked vehicles are for barricaded suspects. The trucks are just armored up a little.

The tracked armored vehicles are usually only used when the suspects are barricaded and there are reports of them having many firearms inside.
The federal marshalls here in Idaho used an armored personnel carrier, borrowed from the local National Guard unit, back during the Ruby Ridge incident in the 1990s in which the suspects had barricaded themselves in a cabin in the woods in the mountains.

[GoneOffShore]

47. Local police departments don't need these.

Just "armored up a little"? To what end?

This is nonsense.

[Major Hogwash]

49. That's your opinion.

Which don't mean much.
I've seen what some of those groups are armed with, so don't fool yourself into thinking some of these vehicles aren't needed by some police departments.

[GoneOffShore]

56. My opinion means just as much as yours - And the desire to turn

Police departments into paramilitary organizations has always seemed to be symptomatic of authoritarian regimes.

Witnessing the police overreaction at UC Davis and at other Occupy sites would suggest that giving police access to this sort of equipment just encourages the many yahoos in uniform to use it.

[Bowwowwow09]

53. Well, a person in my area just held two police officers hostage in his home

Sometimes, local police departments do need this. Stuff like this is like FEMA, when nothing bad is happening, everyone looks at them and says "You are a waste of money", but when something does happen, they are happy there are there.

There are crazy people out there who place no value on a human life. The incident in Martinsville, Indiana just a few days ago showed how useful these can be. There are incidents like this almost everyday where it's likely an officer would be shot and wounded (or killed) if not for these trucks.

[GoneOffShore]

57. I stand by my statement - If the police need this sort of stuff in a

particular situation, call the National Guard.

As I said above - Witnessing the police overreaction at UC Davis and at other Occupy sites would suggest that giving police access to this sort of equipment just encourages the many yahoos in uniform to use it.

[jberryhill]

62. The National Guard is not a police force

Check out these bank robbers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVeb_zZdliw

1100 rounds of full auto armor-piercing rounds fired.

[GoneOffShore]

65. 1997 - And they should have called in the Guard.

When did this country start to want or need a militarized police force?

That way lies fascism.

[jberryhill]

66. There is no way for a municipal police force to "call in the guard"

Who is this "they" of which you speak?

There is not some National Guard garrison at the ready to respond to incidents like that. The National Guard is not trained to arrest anybody, and they do a very poor job of law enforcement.

"Fascism" is not defined by equipment. It is about what the equipment is used for.

[GoneOffShore]

67. And the equipment is being used to oppress and suppress dissent

And yes the National Guard is bad at arresting people but probably pretty good at dealing with people with high powered weapons.

[jberryhill]

69. Which of the machines in the OP has been used to break up OWS?

[Mendocino]

46. Think how many

donuts you could fit in one of those things.

[KG]

48. i'm SO glad i don't live in a police state!

[Downwinder]

50. Typical third world armament.

[Warren DeMontague]

51. Just in case they have to face down one of these dangerous hombres

[A HERETIC I AM]

54. One similar to the 4th one passed me yesterday near Baton Rouge...

in I 10. When I saw it coming up in my rearview, I thought it was an armored car.

NOT something used by "Peace Officers", that's for sure.

[Cal Carpenter]

55. The scourge of illegal camping can't be treated lightly?

:shrug:

[ladjf]

58. Intimidation. "Mine is bigger than yours, so give up, you have no

chance of winning." nt

[GoneOffShore]

60. From Glenn Greenwald - re excessive police force

http://www.salon.com/writer/glenn_greenwald/

Pervasive police abuses and intimidation tactics applied to peaceful protesters — pepper-spray, assault rifles, tasers, tear gas and the rest — not only harm their victims but also the relationship of the citizenry to the government and the set of core political rights. Implanting fear of authorities in the heart of the citizenry is a far more effective means of tyranny than overtly denying rights. That’s exactly what incidents like this are intended to achieve. Overzealous prosecution of those who engage in peaceful political protest (which we’ve seen more and more of over the last several years) as well as rampant secrecy and the sprawling Surveillance State are the close cousins of excessive police force in both intent and effect: they are all about deterring meaningful challenges to those in power through the exercise of basic rights. Rights are so much more effectively destroyed by bullying a citizenry out of wanting to exercise them than any other means.

To the guy who put me on ignore - Not a call out but a clarification that needs to be posted.

I know that Private Bushwa isn't going to see this and it may get deleted - but I'm posting it anyway. Maybe one of his buddies will forward it to him and maybe it will open his eyes a little.

Perhaps, just perhaps, expressing the view that the police "need" this sort of equipment is buying into both the para-militarization of our police forces and agreeing with the creeping fascism that various posters on DU seem to cheer.

[Bake]

61. When you have a toy like that, by God you want to USE IT!

If they want to play soldier, they should volunteer for Afghanistan.

Bake

[snooper2]

63. To take one of these out?

or one of these homemade jobs :P

[ileus]

64. They can insert men into dangerous areas and bring them back safely?

[treestar]

68. Terra!

There has been a lot of Homeland Security money - my state had more than it really needed and got all sorts of stuff.

You'll see 5 emergency vehicles are fender benders.

[Old Troop]

70. the first picture is an M577 armored command vehicle and the 3rd

is an M113 armored personnel carrier. I bet they were declared surplus by the DoD as Bradleys and then Strykers were introduced to replace the M113 family of vehicles. They probably got them for free, both are expensive to maintain so I wonder how they budjeted for them.

[Dawson Leery]

71. Read the police websites, they openly view us as the enemy.