POLICE MRAPS: TEXAS Town of Only 37,000 People- POLICE Department Brags About New MRAP

From the article:

"Designed as a tactical vehicle for combat applications, the BAE Systems 6X6 Caiman MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) Personnel Carrier is being used in cities throughout the nation for domestic purposes, and the Texarkana, Texas Police Department has one."

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"... is to provide armored protection for officers 'during a standoff with an armed suspect.'"

Last Edited by Ag47 on 12/26/2013 03:39 PM

What a waste of money. In a small town an MRAP can not be anymore useless.

Partisans during ww 2 made effective use of shotguns double/single barrel and a dowl loaded in an emptied out shell . Plus molotov cocktails as effective weapons against military vehicles


pretty much a stick with a cocktail on the end as poor mans anti vehicle munition system

Coming to a Police Dept. Near You...
[link to www.belgrade-news.com]

Why does a police department which hasn’t had an officer killed in the line of duty in over 125 years in a town of less than 20,000 people need tactical military vests like those used by soldiers in Afghanistan? For that matter, why does a police department in a city of 35,000 people need a military-grade helicopter? And what possible use could police at Ohio State University have for acquiring a heavily-armored vehicle intended to withstand IED blasts?

Why are police departments across the country acquiring heavy-duty military equipment and weaponry? ..... It’s called make-work programs, except in this case, instead of unnecessary busy work to keep people employed, communities across America are finding themselves “gifted” with drones, tanks, grenade launchers and other military equipment better suited to the battlefield.

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It’s a Trojan Horse, of course, one that is sold to communities as a benefit, all the while the real purpose is to keep the defense industry churning out profits, bring police departments in line with the military, and establish a standing army. ..... federal grants provided by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have “transformed local police departments into small, army-like forces, and put intimidating equipment into the hands of civilian officers. And that is raising questions about whether the strategy has gone too far, creating a culture and capability that jeopardizes public safety and civil rights while creating an expensive false sense of security.”.....

In Montgomery County, Texas, the sheriff’s department owns a $300,000 pilotless surveillance drone, like those used to hunt down al Qaeda terrorists in the remote tribal regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Augusta, Maine, with fewer than 20,000 people and where an officer hasn’t died from gunfire in the line of duty in more than 125 years, police bought eight $1,500 tactical vests. Police in Des Moines, Iowa, bought two $180,000 bomb-disarming robots, while an Arizona sheriff is now the proud owner of a surplus Army tank.

Small counties and cities throughout the country are now being “gifted” with 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. MRAPs are built to withstand IED blasts, a function which seems unnecessary for any form of domestic policing,.....

Universities are getting in on the program as well. In September 2013, the Ohio State University Department of Public Safety acquired an MRAP, which a university spokesperson said will be used for “officer rescue, hostage scenarios, bomb evaluation,” situations which are not increasingly common on OSU’s campus......

Almost 13,000 agencies in all 50 states and four U.S. territories participate in the military “recycling” program, and the share of equipment and weaponry gifted each year continues to expand. ..... Since 1990, $4.2 billion worth of equipment has been transferred from the Defense Department to domestic police agencies through the 1033 program, in addition to various other programs supposedly aimed at fighting the so-called War on Drugs and War on Terror. For example, the Department of Homeland Security has delivered roughly $34 billion to police departments throughout the country since 9/11, ostensibly to purchase more gear for their steady growing arsenals of military weapons and equipment.

It doesn’t look like this trend towards the militarization of domestic police forces will be slowing down anytime soon, either. In fact, it seems to have opened up a new market for military contractors. According to a December 2011 report, “the homeland security market for state and local agencies is projected to reach $19.2 billion by 2014, up from an estimated $15.8 billion in fiscal 2009.”

In addition to being an astounding waste of taxpayer money, this equipping of police with military-grade equipment and weapons also gives rise to a dangerous mindset in which police feel compelled to put their newly high-power toys and weapons to use. The results are deadly, as can be seen in the growing numbers of unarmed civilians shot by police during relatively routine encounters and in the use of SWAT teams to carry out relatively routine tasks. For example, a team of police in Austin, Texas broke into a home in order to search for a stolen koi fish. In Florida, over 50 barbershops were raided by police donning masks and guns in order to enforce barber licensing laws.

..... This is what happens when you have police not only acquiring the gear of American soldiers, but also the mindset of an army occupying hostile territory. In this way, the American citizen is no longer seen as an employer or master to be served by public servants like police officers. With police playing the part of soldiers on the battlefield and the American citizen left to play the part of an enemy combatant, it’s a pretty safe bet that this particular exercise in the absurd will not have a happy ending.

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Last Edited by Ag47 on 12/26/2013 03:55 PM

Same with Salina's California. It's like they want the public to see them on show.

Thread: Police MRAPs: Salina's California Gets New MRAP

Last Edited by Southern Norseman on 12/26/2013 03:58 PM

Agreed, I just saw something about that yesterday. And if I recall correctly, some of the citizens there see it for what it is and voiced their concerns, right?

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Thread: POLICE STATE: Ohio State University Now Has an Armored Fighting Vehicle, MRAP


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Sounds good to me. Texas will need them when we secede.

Yeah, they got so riled up the Chief had to acknowledge them and "explain" how needed it was.



LOL Never thought of it like that!

Last Edited by Southern Norseman on 12/26/2013 04:27 PM

That thought has crossed my mind, but these vehicles come with strings attached, strings that are pulled by the federal government. Which leads me to believe that the vehicles will be used against the citizenry, rather than to protect them.

My hometown has a homeland security department, with a nice cushy job going to a supporter of the current mayor. We really need that department because small, craphole towns in Mississippi are big al-qaeda targets!!

If you don't let the DHS search your home, the terrorists will win. LOL

Police Are Getting the Military’s Leftover Armored Trucks
[link to wheels.blogs.nytimes.com]

The Sept. 11 attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had a broad impact on American society. It could be argued that one of its vestiges has been a keen interest in armored vehicles by many police departments.

Buoyed by Department of Homeland Security grant money and surplus armored vehicles, many police departments have opted to buy the tanklike trucks, including Boulder, Colo., and Preston, Idaho.

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One of the more recent examples is the Ohio State University Police Department, which recently picked up a surplus Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle – known as an MRAP – from the Pentagon for free. Richard Morman, deputy police chief at Ohio State, said in an interview that the department could use the heavy truck, which was developed for the military to protect troops from improvised explosive devices, land mines and other sneak attacks, to respond to natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

“The Department of Homeland Security identified stadiums as a risk for terrorist attacks,” he said, adding that the MRAP will play a role in providing stadium security, as well as responding to incidents like the tornado that ripped through Ohio State’s campus three years ago. “It’s a more special vehicle than the typical armored vehicle. This one can go through water.”

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According to DoDBuzz, a journal covering defense acquisition issues, MRAPs cost from $535,000 to $600,000 to produce.

“We’ve procured equipment through the program before, but nothing quite like this,” Deputy Chief Morman said, adding that the MRAP has had its Iraq-era roof-mounted machine gun turret removed and will be repainted black from its original flat desert tan.

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“Being prepared to respond to any and all hazards is part of our proactive approach to safety for the entire university community,” he said.

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Deputy Chief Morman said that negative commentary about the MRAP had been coming mainly from blogs, but the local media had been more supportive.

“There’s been some concern about its militarylike appearance, but we’ve removed the turret,” he said, adding that the department hasn’t received negative feedback from students. “Having just come back from the desert, it looks pretty intimidating.”

The Columbus Dispatch offered the observation that the MRAP could be part of a trend of police militarization after a decade and a half of American wars. According to the paper’s report on Ohio State’s MRAP procurement, the American Civil Liberties Union has assessed police department records from 25 states to assess the broader implications of military equipment and customs spreading to police around the country.

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“The MRAP is like the BearCats and is compatible with their use,” he said. “But instead of paying $200,000, we got it for free. I think it’s a good use of taxpayer money.”

you have the sherrif dept there as well OP ?
we have both plus the constable.

you know the sherrif is more powerful than the popo
and most times conservative etc etc/

i'd look and find the closest chapter of Oath Keepers and ask them what do they think about all this crap.

dont stop fast in front of one...
[link to www.youtube.com]

The PD that got the MRAP's is on the edge of the county/state line, so the Sheriff's usually focus on the rural areas. But even then, not sure if the sheriff is citizen friendly on these issues as he's been in office for a long time.

The MRAPs all across the country come with Federal strings attached. For instance, if the PD ever decides to get rid of the MRAP, it cannot be sold or destroyed, only handed back over to the federal government.

It's also worth noting that the DHS is the catalyst behind all of these handouts, that doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy.

You "gift" military equipment all across the country, then you commender said equipment when the SHTF.

I hate to say, but the truth is that many of these anti-terrorism and "homeland security" positions are given out as sinecures, as opposed to actually being needed.

This sums it up nicely. ^^^

It's always a transparent double standard, how long before enough people quit drinking the fluoridated Kool-Aid?

Obama calls to remove "Weapons of War" (citizens firearms) from the streets of America, while simultaneously FLOODING the streets of America with ACTUAL weapons of war, in the form of thousands of armored vehicles, BILLIONS of rounds of ammo and many thousands of fully automatic weapons.

And there was this double standard not long ago as well, putting out hypocrisy literally at the same time:

Thread: OBAMA: ARMING AL QAEDA WHILE DISARMING AMERICANS



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Those aren't for the police dept. They're for the military. Whoever that may be. Your local police dept will be no more. When the military steps in there equipment will already be here. How convenient.