3 ms·
Policing issues worldwide always seem like some bizarre budgeting priority issue to me. They're happy to spend many millions upgrading their vehicle fleets and
by Aromasin 3y ago
Policing issues worldwide always seem like some bizarre budgeting priority issue to me. They're happy to spend many millions upgrading their vehicle fleets and equipment each year - kit that is perfectly fit for purpose in most cases, much of it only 5 or 6 years old - yet they can't afford to get bodies on the ground or respond to crime-in-progress calls. Seems to be classic white elephant behaviour.
To be frank, the general public doesn't care about the extreme crime that most police forces concern themselves with. They just want to feel safe on the subway or walk home from work. They want to be able to have a delivery left on their doorstep and not be stolen. They want to be able to park their car without someone smashing their window to steal some spare change. Yet little funding ever seems to come together to do anything about that; it all goes into the exciting anti-terrorism unit or drug-enforcement agency and the likem which make up the tiniest fraction of actual crimes.
- desert_rue 3y agoMuch of the SWAT gear is likely military surplus. My city has part time SWAT but two huge hummers that were built for the military but never deployed. I am not saying that police prioritize their deployment of officers properly. I’m just saying they likely don’t pay for military surplus.
- nickff 3y agoMilitary surplus is usually auctioned off to eligible buyers at a large discount. There were a number of stories back when MRAPs coming from Afghanistan and Iraq were sold to municipalities.