Posted on 05/18/2018 8:41:30 PM PDT by BBell
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – You may not know what a Bearcat is but you’ve probably seen them, deployed by SWAT and tactical teams responding to violent protests and barricade situations, or to save people trapped in hurricanes, floods and mudslides.
Police departments nationwide have been stocking up on the Armored Incident Response & Rescue Vehicles, taking advantage of a federal program enacted in the 90s allowing law enforcement access to military-grade gear.
The program was temporarily suspended by President Obama in 2015 but reinstated by President Trump last year. Mr. Trump signed an executive order lifting the ban on military gear to police departments. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at the time that the restart would "send a strong message that we will not allow criminal activity, violence and lawlessness to become a new normal."
The Bearcat is built by LenCo Armored Vehicles of Pittsfield Massachusetts, which just spent $5 million to expand production of their highly sought after all-terrain beast, purchasing and refurbishing the 70,000-square-foot building adjacent to their original factory to eventually double the output of product.
LenCo has built and sold nearly 6,000 BearCats to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and 40 foreign governments. The trucks, built on a shortened Ford F-550 chassis, weigh roughly nine tons, fabricated from flat sheets of American-made bulletproof steel and bulletproof glass. The CEO of LenCo, Len Light, says it is “necessary to give these departments the best tools they need to protect themselves in life-threatening situations.”
Critics of the vehicles call the militarization of police forces a threat to local law enforcement and community partnerships.
Mathew Feeney of the Cato Institute insists “It’s very important local communities don’t view their police department as an occupying force,” saying “unfortunately, the militarization of the police really does blur that distinction.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
ops = cops
If the police can have that then I should be able to have an RPG just for the sake of parity.
When the spit hits the spam, the first action any Patriot should take is to grab a shotgun and start taking out those so-called "traffic" cameras. They're nothing more than Big Brother's eyes.
One gallon of household ammonia.
L
There are many of god-fearing, patriotic cops; however; a lot of cops are just criminals with a badge. The vast majority of crimes on military installations are committed by military police—check out the blotter on any post. The difference is the military actually prosecutes them, while police in the civilian sector literally get away with murder.
History is replete with the same stories. Police are needed because men are evil; but we want to believe they are somehow able to rise above it by virtue of just being a cop. Unfortunately, cops are only as good or bad as the society they inhabit, and that doesn’t bode well for us. To put it in the Aristotlean fashion:
All men are evil.
All police are men.
All Police are evil.
The only thing that saves society is that neither men, nor police are exclusively evil.
Heavily armed police are the “standing army” the Founders warned us about. Liberty dies when the rulers no longer fear the people.
“All the cameras around your city, are all going to be hunting us down.”
Their dependence on them is their downfall since it is so easy to remove those cameras.
I hate to agree with Sauron...
I am totally opposed to the militarization of our police and all the rest of our post-constitutional framework. Police have always been the strong armed face of tyrants, but they generally only show up in the final act. Asset seizure, judicial activism, congressional abdication, government by bureaucracy or executive dictat are hardly markers of liberty.
Our country has been headed down this road since her inception, and it’s every generation’s job to root out tyranny and kill her proponents. The last few haven’t done such a good job.
Those are “we live in a shit hole country” vehicle.
“All the cameras around your city”
Will be shot out within 24 hours of the govt trying to come after the general public.
Hey, it takes serious firepower to bring down those family dogs.
that only works if the vehicles are disabled and stationary.
Not to rain further on this parade
Parts of this country resemble Haiti or Valenzuela. I live near one.
A .50 cal will still mess up the wheels and grill. You might have to keep at it for awhile. A penetrator will get through that vehicle. If a bunch of 7th century goat herder barbarians can build IEDs what do you think all the college grad guys in the US can churn out in their backyard workshops. It would definitely rain on somebody’s parade.
True, CQB just doesn’t appeal to me, prefer to keep a very healthy distance.
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