Cobb police add tank to arsenal

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | Oct 10, 2008 | DERRICK MAHONE

[microgood]

Don’t be surprised to see an Army tank rolling down a street near you.

The Cobb County police department has refurbished a donated Armored Personnel Carrier for officers to use in SWAT situations.

Enlarge this image

BOB ANDRES / bandres@ajc.com

Cobb police have a new tank. The vehicle is being driven by Detective Steve Brawner as Sgt. Lester Maddox directs him into position. Cobb County police unveil its new crime-fighting machine, The L.A.V. 300 (Light Armored Vehicle) at Marietta Square on Saturday.

• Photos

The vehicle, which retails for $500,000, is a Light Armor Vehicle that was used by the U.S. Army in Panama. The county paid $45,000 to upgrade the vehicle for police use.

Equipped with thermal sensors, computerized tracking devices, night vision, tear gas launchers and other gadgets, the all-black six-wheel unit can hold up to nine SWAT officers.

It has a new engine and transmission, which will allow it to reach a speed of 60 miles per hour.

“In these times, you don’t know what you are facing,” Cobb police chief George Hatfield said. “We want the maximum safety for our officers and the public. We want to be prepared for whatever comes up. This is another tool that will allow us to be quicker and faster in our response.”

Since 2000, SWAT has used a Peacekeeper vehicle on calls. The APC will allow SWAT officers to get closer to dangerous situations and transport citizens out of them. If officers are tracking a suspect, they can do so from within the vehicle. So far this year, Cobb’s SWAT team has responded to about 50 calls.

Walker County is the only other police department in Georgia with a similar vehicle. Gwinnett County and the state patrol use the LENCO vehicle, which resembles an armored truck. Clayton County has a Peacekeeper vehicle.

“You always hope that you don’t have to use it, but this is becoming a fact of life,” SWAT commander Lt. Joel Preston said. “You have to be prepared and make the situation safer.”

Once SWAT members complete training on the APC, the Peacekeeper will be refurbished for future use.

“These two units will eventually work in tandem,” said Det. Steve Brawner, who has overseen the project.

Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, the APC will be on display at Marietta’s town square.

[microgood]

Sorry I kind of slaughtered the html but did not want all the other stuff. Had to post this, found at Radley Balko's site www.theagitator.com Where he said:

Because you never know when Marietta’s going to turn into Fallujah.

[smokingfrog]

Don’t be surprised to see an Army tank rolling down a street near you. (probably on Nov. 5, 2008)

[William of Barsoom]

An A-10 would be good, too, for urban area close air support. Very effective for those pesky standoffs.

[KarlInOhio]

Sure you can deal with Chihuahuas and toy poodles while wearing just body armor, but this is needed if the victims of a no knock raid to serve a warrant for excessive parking tickets have a beagle with a bad disposition. Apache helicopters will be required to deal with German shepherds and tactical nuclear weapons for pit bulls.

No, I don't like the militarization of the police at all. If they have a tank, they will find a use for it even if it isn't reasonable.

[AmericanGirlRising]

did you post because you’re in marietta or like tanks? both?

[Blogger]

More like February
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1994684/posts

[microgood]

did you post because you’re in marietta or like tanks? both?

I like tanks but am not in marietta. I just thought it was funny that cops are getting surplus military equipment and actually thinking they have a use for it.

[AmericanGirlRising]

did you post because you’re in marietta or like tanks? both?

I like tanks but am not in marietta. I just thought it was funny that cops are getting surplus military equipment and actually thinking they have a use for it.

Trust me, anything good in Marietta gets given to City of Atlanta anyway.

[pepsionice]

I kinda agree...they will look for situations where they can drag out the tank and destroy an entire home or apartment building...just for show purposes. This isn’t law enforcement....its a “dog and pony” show.

The amusing thing...having worked with a former Army tanker...is that tanks break down often. As my associate would say....if he got thirty miles off his vehicle (which was five years old)...before some minor problem....he felt lucky. If he got 100 miles before a major problem....he felt extra special lucky.

So figure out the normal operation. Uncle Bud calls the cops because junior is hold up in the shed with rifles and is on some drug binge. The Cobb cops call Jimmy Joe (chief tanker) to bring out the vehicle. Its a 14-mile trip to the shed in question. Halfway out to the shed....Jimmy Joe discovers that the oil pressure is rapidly declining. He has a oil leak. He stops off at Barney’s tackle shop and buys five cases of oil, and tosses half of that into the tank. He charges this on the department credit card (where he makes $7k worth of oil purchase a year). Jimmy Joe drives on....then having a bearing problem somewhere and has some guy come out and fix that (nine hour wait). When the tank finally arrives....junior’s drug binge is over and the one cop there apprehended junior. The shed was never destroyed...which Uncle Jimmy is grateful for....and Jimmy Joe limps his tank back to the squad area...with the leftover remains of the oil he bought.

Thats life in Cobb county.

[ozzymandus]

You nailed it. There won’t be anybody in the dept. who knows how to service an armored vehicle, and it will be broken down most of the time. Eventually (I’d guess about two years from now), the toy will be broke, nobody will want to play with it anymore anyway, the county budget won’t cover the bills to get it fixed, and it will be sold for scrap, after costing Cobb county a half million bucks or so.The only saving grace is that it’s on wheels, not tracks, so they might be able to tow it away when it blows a tranny during the July 4th parade.

[biff]

Molotov cocktails take care of these pretty well if thrown in the engine area. Lights off fuel lines, electrical lines and rubber.

[PLMerite]

“It has a new engine and transmission, which will allow it to reach a speed of 60 miles per hour.”

Great, the dummies will think they can take it on the highway.

[rednesss]

Not to worry, the good guys will be driving it, right?? You have nothing to fear from the government.

[ArmstedFragg]

Hmmm... the name of the sergeant directing it where to park is vaguely familiar...

[ansel12]

It isn’t a tank at all, so what is this thread about?

[ansel12]

It is a bullet proof vehicle.

[higgmeister]

An A-10 would be good, too, for urban area close air support. Very effective for those pesky standoffs.

Not much chance. They build F-22's and AC130 Gunships within spittin distance of the Marietta Square. You might say this is a Lockheed town. We would just let Puff light it up.

[higgmeister]

Trust me, anything good in Marietta gets given to City of Atlanta anyway.

Splain yourself Lucy. I don't know of one thing we have given to Atlanta.

[higgmeister]

Thanks for posting this. If it is going to be sitting on the square tomorrow I’ll drop by to see it.

[ApplegateRanch]

So, which side will they beusing it on during the future general uprising, if the Obamasiah wins & tries to “CHANGE” us?

[ApplegateRanch]

It is a bullet proof vehicle.

Not with all thiose open doors & hatches. *<];-)

In the 1960s, the California National Guard parked its tanks --real tanks, not APCs-- 'under' & next to a freeway overpass during Berkeley riots, leaving the turret hatches open over night.

Fortunately, none of the stoners had the brains or stones to drop some Molotovs straight down into them.

[maine-iac7]

This is quietly going on across the country - getting ready for the Marxist National Police Force -

NO JOKE - be very afraid

“Obama campaign has instructed all Missouri law enforcement to target, intimidate, potentially arrest and prosecute anyone who says anything negative about Barack Obama. “

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

His intention to create a “National Civilian” Police Force

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCMDur9CDZ4&feature=related

His Chicago street thug/Maxist instructions to his supporter to intimidate and “get in their faces”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwaAVJITx1Y

Obama’s Youth Regiment - should send shivers up your spine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxJ7t3U3TDg

‘be smart to take out stock in Jack Boots and Brown Shirts

[panaxanax]

Thanks for posting that picture. The image was starting to fade in many Americans minds. This is what to expect under an 0bama presidency.

panax

[maine-iac7]

cops are getting surplus military equipment and actually thinking they have a use for it

The will have if we don't send "the ONE" packing. Think a Marxist takeover can't happen here? read the links in post # 22

[maine-iac7]

, and it will be broken down most of the time. Eventually (I’d guess about two years from now),

Obama plans on having a NATIONAL POLICE FORCE and says it's to have as many police as are currently in the military - and with as much funding.

YOu think it's an accident that these military weapons are being "given" to police depts. around the country?

Listen to him in his own words in video link in post # 22

[panaxanax]

>>”The vehicle, which retails for $500,000, is a Light Armor Vehicle that was used by the U.S. Army in Panama. The county paid $45,000 to upgrade the vehicle for police use.”<<

WOW! I would think that a used armored car from Brinks would have served the same purpose. Why in the world would a civilian police department have to spend an extra $45,000 to “upgrade” a military vehicle already designed for war? Is the civilian population more dangerous than a trained foreign military?

We are racing towards the U.S.S.A. Police State and there’s not a damned thing we can do about it.

[maine-iac7]

you write: “So, which side will they beusing it on during the future general uprising, if the Obamasiah wins & tries to “CHANGE” us?”

Listen to Der Obama.

His intention to create a “National Civilian” Police Force

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCMDur9CDZ4&feature=related

and

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

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxJ7t3U3TDg

All together now: HEIL, OBAMA

[smokingfrog]

Looks like I’d better start stocking up (mainly on Vodka and 7.62)

[R. Scott]

News reporters call anything with armor a “tank”, and this one isn’t even armed - no gun tube. It even has wheels!
It’d be nice if even a few of them had Army or Maine experience and could tell the difference. They even use the term “semi-automatic machine gun”.

[sergeantdave]

Calm down! The Army and Marine Corps has plenty of ordnance to take out this “tank.” They’re on our side and will loan us what’s needed.

[John W]

“Because you never know when Marietta’s going to turn into Fallujah.”

Or, Lexington & Concord.

[AmericanGirlRising]

Trust me, anything good in Marietta gets given to City of Atlanta anyway.

Splain yourself Lucy. I don’t know of one thing we have given to Atlanta.

Lucy was responding to the forum string jokes about use of tank or gift of tank Nov. 5th. lots of joking going on here.

[An Old Man]

"Great, the dummies will think they can take it on the highway."

That reminds me of the good old days when we held M48 Tank races on US Highway 101.

[wastedyears]

There is no rational need for any police department to have one of these.

[archy]

Great, the dummies will think they can take it on the highway." That reminds me of the good old days when we held M48 Tank races on US Highway 101

He wore black denim trousers and motorcycle boots

And a black leather jacket with an eagle on the back

He had a hopped-up 'cicle Patton that took off like a gun

That fool was the terror of Highway 101....

-slight revision of Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots, by The Cheers, words and music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Charted around #6 in 1955.

[PLMerite]

“That reminds me of the good old days when we held M48 Tank races on US Highway 101.”

Yeah, but I bet you knew what you were going!

[mysterio]

End swat teams now.

[archy]

The amusing thing...having worked with a former Army tanker...is that tanks break down often

Our M48 and M60 tanks required around 4 hours of maintenance for every hour of operation. The Abrams is up arouds 8:1 for maint/ops hours. I doubt that many of the Georgia cops come even close to the attitude and temperment required for operating and maintaining an armored vehicle over any extended period, much less combat. They';ll use it on a raid or two, set it up for a media magnet at a high-profile roadblock here or there, but if they try using it in any sort of really serious trouble, it'll wind up in worse condition than many of the Strykers in Iraq have.

Maybe the cop-crew inside will get out, if they've practiced their egress drills and have cover when they need it. Maybe they won't.

[archy]

Why in the world would a civilian police department have to spend an extra $45,000 to “upgrade” a military vehicle already designed for war?

Cop radios and a nice paint job, most likely. And I bet there's some hardware for their new toy included on the list.

If the cops figure that things are about to be so bad that they need military armored cars, it's time for the citizens they work for to make a few similar preparations.

[PapaBear3625]

Obama plans on having a NATIONAL POLICE FORCE and says it's to have as many police as are currently in the military - and with as much funding.

The Founders were much afraid of the idea of "standing armies", if you read the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers. The reason they didn't like standing armies was because the military was used to enforce the will of the King against his subjects in the colonial days. Their ideal was to have the federal government be UNABLE to enforce its will without the active cooperation of state and local authorities

Their ideal was for there to be a militia composed of all the people, which could enforce the laws the people agreed with, and oppose measures that they considered tyranny, and for the government to not have standing, full time forces that could be used to oppress the people.

[wastedyears]

***Is the civilian population more dangerous than a trained foreign military?***

Well, let’s put it this way...

An invading force will have rules of engagement, military discipline, and a chain of command. When the brown stuff hits the fan, well, we won’t have any of those.

[wastedyears]

***They’re on our side and will loan us what’s needed.***

I don’t think all of them will be on our side.

[archy]

There is no rational need for any police department to have one of these.

An armoured ambulance makes sense, particularly in light of such events as the North Hollywood bank robbery, when the cops had to *borrow* an armored bank delivery truck to evacuate their and civilian wounded. And the German Grenzschutze used light armor, some with 20mm automatic cannons, back in the days when the *Iron Curtain* border was a 5 kilometer military controlled zone. I could see that application along our southern border, especially since the Mexicans routinely patrol their side with HUMVEES with .50 Browniong machineguns.

The Mexicans also operate surplussed German Bundesgrenzschutze vehicles with cannon. Yeah, I can see their use along that front.

[patton]

Nice - but you don’t fire that monster from the hip.

Along with radios, power conversion. Cop radios are 12V.

[archy]

***They’re on our side and will loan us what’s needed.***

I don’t think all of them will be on our side.

Nor will all of them abandon their oath to the Constitution and act against the American people. Expect many, most to simply take no side at all, refusing to take part in activities that would require committing acts of war against fellow Americans.

Enough of them on our side will be enough.

[archy]

Nice - but you don’t fire that monster from the hip. Along with radios, power conversion. Cop radios are 12V

The V100 electrical system operates from a pair of 12-volt batteries in series. It's a pretty simple matter to tap 12-V radio power from one, and that needed for a lightbar, spotlights, etc. from the other.

Still, they may be dumb enough to do it the hared way.

[wastedyears]

If along the southern border, which I completely agree there needs to be an impenetrable wall, they should be operated by the National Guard. As we all know on here, police departments can’t responsibly own and operate armored personnel carriers/tanks.

[patton]

I am surprised it has 12V batteries. New one on me.

[archy]

Nice - but you don’t fire that monster from the hip.

No, nor from out in the open during hostilities.

But among the accessories for the 20mm Norsupyssy is what's popularly known as a *fencepost* mount.

[patton]

LOL - the sight is cracking me up. Interesting reticle.