2 ms·

TANSTAAFL - who's paying for that gear? How'd it get in the police department's hands "for free"? I don't want to be SWATTED (for script kiddie's Lulz) just b

by r00fus 5y ago

TANSTAAFL - who's paying for that gear? How'd it get in the police department's hands "for free"? I don't want to be SWATTED (for script kiddie's Lulz) just because the police have the equipment and need to justify usage of it.

pixelgeek 5y ago
Well the US taxpayer is paying for it. It is military equipment that is transferred to police departments https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/24/pros-j24.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/24/pros-j24.html
- rbanffy 5y ago
  A surplus that's a side effect of a bad habit of invading other countries and occupying them for decades. Kick the habit and the surplus goes away. Also, international good will increases.
asdff 5y ago
Federal programs transfer this equipment to police force for free other than like shipping and ongoing maintenance(1). Easy for ARs since they already have the gun lube. Harder for the Armored Personel Carrier so that is usually found parked in front of HQ just for show like an old WWII tank. SWATTING is extremely rare and unlikely to ever happen to you or anyone you personally know. Meanwhile there's been plenty of cases that have demonstrated the need for police to have access to weaponry, like the north hollywood shootout(2). 1. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/09/why-police-pay-nothing-for-military-equipment.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/09/why-police-pay-nothing-for-m... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout
- rbanffy 5y ago
  > shipping and ongoing maintenance Get it now and pay forever. Sounds like a sweet deal to the manufacturer.
  - asdff 5y ago
    The reality of ongoing maintenance is that they just don't maintain the APC and leave it parked out front. If it doesn't work in 30 years they don't care, it's a playpiece for kids to climb over worst case like the Sherman WWII tanks given to U.S. cities under a similar program in the 1950s. For the other ongoing maintenance, for something like an M16 it's not going to require very much costly specialized things from the armory. It's going to use the same gun lube, the ammunition used is economical, it's literally the toyota corolla of spare parts in terms of a gun given how many manufacturers exist producing AR15 parts at scale and therefore at affordable prices. Stuff like a military flashlight or a rifle sight or ballistic vest doesn't really need ongoing maintenance either.

by r00fus 5y ago

pixelgeek 5y ago

Well the US taxpayer is paying for it. It is military equipment that is transferred to police departments https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/24/pros-j24.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/24/pros-j24.html

rbanffy 5y ago
A surplus that's a side effect of a bad habit of invading other countries and occupying them for decades. Kick the habit and the surplus goes away. Also, international good will increases.

asdff 5y ago

Federal programs transfer this equipment to police force for free other than like shipping and ongoing maintenance(1). Easy for ARs since they already have the gun lube. Harder for the Armored Personel Carrier so that is usually found parked in front of HQ just for show like an old WWII tank. SWATTING is extremely rare and unlikely to ever happen to you or anyone you personally know. Meanwhile there's been plenty of cases that have demonstrated the need for police to have access to weaponry, like the north hollywood shootout(2). 1. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/09/why-police-pay-nothing-for-military-equipment.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/09/why-police-pay-nothing-for-m... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout

rbanffy 5y ago
> shipping and ongoing maintenance Get it now and pay forever. Sounds like a sweet deal to the manufacturer.
- asdff 5y ago
  The reality of ongoing maintenance is that they just don't maintain the APC and leave it parked out front. If it doesn't work in 30 years they don't care, it's a playpiece for kids to climb over worst case like the Sherman WWII tanks given to U.S. cities under a similar program in the 1950s. For the other ongoing maintenance, for something like an M16 it's not going to require very much costly specialized things from the armory. It's going to use the same gun lube, the ammunition used is economical, it's literally the toyota corolla of spare parts in terms of a gun given how many manufacturers exist producing AR15 parts at scale and therefore at affordable prices. Stuff like a military flashlight or a rifle sight or ballistic vest doesn't really need ongoing maintenance either.