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My Sheriff’s Department does not need an MRAP. My town’s police officers do not need to wear IOTVs. I prefer my local police forces to look like peace officer

by black6 6y ago

My Sheriff’s Department does not need an MRAP. My town’s police officers do not need to wear IOTVs. I prefer my local police forces to look like peace officers, not like they’re about to invade Grenada. The federal funding of municipality's law enforcement is just a kickback to the military-industrial-intelligence axis. The funneling of my tax dollars to purchase weapons of war to be used against the citizens.

rayiner 6y ago
This equipment is deployed for SWAT teams and the like. European police have this gear too: http://mark.benedict.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/German-Swat-Team.png http://mark.benedict.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/German-Sw...
- throw0101a 6y ago
  Do the security/police of European universities and colleges have MRAPs? * https://reason.com/2013/09/19/ohio-state-university-gets-armored-milit/ https://reason.com/2013/09/19/ohio-state-university-gets-arm... * https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ohio-state-university-armored-truck_n_3949750?ri18n=true https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ohio-state-university-ar... Do European towns, with populations of 9000, have EUR/USD 1'000'000 vehicles that can stop 50-caliber rounds of ammunition? * https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/police-tank-moundsville-west-virginia-armoured-truck-a9576766.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/police-tan... Larger municipalities having specialized units (marine, SWAT) is one thing; the question is why is having vehicles that can handle IEDs necessary, especially if they're smaller communities. Also: why do some officers (in the US) go out on patrol in camouflage patterns? What kind of department allows that? What kind of mindset does a person have to be in to do that versus the 'traditional' all-blue that many people identify with police uniforms?
  - black6 6y ago
    The idea of a “uniform” has been lost on the police and sheriff departments of the communities I live around. Two officers in the patrol car together will wear completely different outfits. One will be in the traditional blue uniform, wearing a tactical vest with plates on the outside, while the other will be dressed half plainclothes. Khakis with a polo embroidered with a badge and a ball cap. The brewery where I used to brew was better at coordinating the daily uniform.
- realityking 6y ago
  Since you posted a picture of a German team I think it’s worth pointing out some differences: - With very few exceptions (AFAIK only Stuttgart and Frankfurt) all armed police is only provided by the state and not municipalities - This means special units, including technical units but also SWAT teams, serve a wide area. Often a whole state, in bigger state sizable portion of it - The idea of a small town - or a college - police having their own SWAT team is completely foreign - Normal police is already much more intensively trained than in the US. SWAT adds to this. SWAT is treated as expensive specialists, not a part time duty a cop can do on the side As an example, I studied in Aachen. Aachen has no SWAT team. When one was needed it would come from Cologne (usually) or Düsseldorf. Both an hour drive away. Now there are many structural differences between the US and Germany that you can‘t lift-and-ship the German approach to policing to the US but it’s disingenuous to imply German police is as militarized as American police because it also have SWAT teams.

by black6 6y ago

rayiner 6y ago

This equipment is deployed for SWAT teams and the like. European police have this gear too: http://mark.benedict.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/German-Swat-Team.png http://mark.benedict.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/German-Sw...

throw0101a 6y ago
Do the security/police of European universities and colleges have MRAPs? * https://reason.com/2013/09/19/ohio-state-university-gets-armored-milit/ https://reason.com/2013/09/19/ohio-state-university-gets-arm... * https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ohio-state-university-armored-truck_n_3949750?ri18n=true https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ohio-state-university-ar... Do European towns, with populations of 9000, have EUR/USD 1'000'000 vehicles that can stop 50-caliber rounds of ammunition? * https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/police-tank-moundsville-west-virginia-armoured-truck-a9576766.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/police-tan... Larger municipalities having specialized units (marine, SWAT) is one thing; the question is why is having vehicles that can handle IEDs necessary, especially if they're smaller communities. Also: why do some officers (in the US) go out on patrol in camouflage patterns? What kind of department allows that? What kind of mindset does a person have to be in to do that versus the 'traditional' all-blue that many people identify with police uniforms?
- black6 6y ago
  The idea of a “uniform” has been lost on the police and sheriff departments of the communities I live around. Two officers in the patrol car together will wear completely different outfits. One will be in the traditional blue uniform, wearing a tactical vest with plates on the outside, while the other will be dressed half plainclothes. Khakis with a polo embroidered with a badge and a ball cap. The brewery where I used to brew was better at coordinating the daily uniform.
realityking 6y ago
Since you posted a picture of a German team I think it’s worth pointing out some differences: - With very few exceptions (AFAIK only Stuttgart and Frankfurt) all armed police is only provided by the state and not municipalities - This means special units, including technical units but also SWAT teams, serve a wide area. Often a whole state, in bigger state sizable portion of it - The idea of a small town - or a college - police having their own SWAT team is completely foreign - Normal police is already much more intensively trained than in the US. SWAT adds to this. SWAT is treated as expensive specialists, not a part time duty a cop can do on the side As an example, I studied in Aachen. Aachen has no SWAT team. When one was needed it would come from Cologne (usually) or Düsseldorf. Both an hour drive away. Now there are many structural differences between the US and Germany that you can‘t lift-and-ship the German approach to policing to the US but it’s disingenuous to imply German police is as militarized as American police because it also have SWAT teams.