Posted on 09/11/2008 10:27:19 PM PDT by Oyarsa
Let's see....if I'm sitting in my living room watching TV, and someone comes busting my door down...
Knowing that I haven't done anything wrong, should I assume it is the cops, and spread-eagle on the floor, and hope they don't rough me up too bad, and trash my house too much....
Or should I assume that this is some drug-crazed nut case, reach in my desk drawer, pull out my pistol and fight back?
If it's the drug-crazed nut case, I stand a chance.
If it's a SWAT team that has wrongfully attacked my house, I'm dead if I decide to violently defend my house.
They will make sure that I am wrong.
Libertarian streak OFF....
I could understand the Sheriff of Sadr City maybe needing one of these contraptions. But not until the US pulls out of Iraq. And maybe not even then.
There is neither reason or justification for any LEA in the United States to have one of these. Certainly NOT equipped with a .50 cal belt-fed machine gun. I would be hard pressed to conceive of an urban environment where letting off that thing could be safe: .50 cal bullets go thru stuff and just keep going.
Way, way over-the-top. Insane.
If things are *that badly* out of control, the good Sheriff ought to call in the National Guard.
And whoever oversees and approves his annual budget ought to call in the auditors: this kind of flagrant waste of taxpayer dollars is a sure sign that gross overspending is happening. Sheriff needs his budget trimmed.
And I don’t care if he *did* get it for a cheap deal: he didn’t need it, so spending so little as $1 was by definition a wrongful spend. Even if he got it for free, he didn’t need it so even filling up the gas tank is by definition a wrongful spend.
Even if the Army paid him to take it, he didn’t need it, so both the Army and the Sheriff need to be investigated: the Army for misappropriated funds, and the Sheriff for unlawful conversion.
A lot of departments are buying surplus military APC’s.
They are a heck of a lot cheaper than a new LENCO Bear.
I do have to say that the .50cal machine gun is gross overkill as far as law enforcement use goes.
“Isn’t a .50 cal illegal to use on humans according to UN international law?”
Under the Geneva Conventions it is......BUT you can shoot at their “equipment”.
Great idea, giving this little tinpot would-be soldier his own little army.
This is the “S.W.A.T.” mentality taken to its illogical extreme.
The “outgunned” line is a tired lie. A fool with a AK-47 does not have to be met with police weilding their own M-16s. One shot from one quality deer rifle from a protected position is the strongest firepower any police force should ever need. This is a useless toy, whose only purpose is to make the police feel giddy.
***Sheriff Leon Lott has charmingly named the vehicle “The Peacemaker,”***
Nothing new. About 38 years ago the town of Cairo, Illinois had a home made version they called “The War Waggon”.
"Simple" is certainly the correct word choice. Only a simpleton would ever default to greater firepower over using sound judgment, strategy, and patience. There is absolutely ZERO reason to EVER storm a supposed crack-house with military-grade arms. You've clearly watched far too many Hollywood movies.
WTF is a damned POLICE unit doing with an armored personell carrier ?????
The good news is that 30-06 AP will go right through it.
Laws of Land Warfare and the Geneva Convention.
our police are not Navy Seals or Green Berets
they are cops....police officers, it's time they get real and leave the militarization goodies to folks trained for it and CONSTITUTIONALLY proscribed for it.
it's ridiculous
why not throw in a few suitcases of anadrol ampules while we're at it and a resident tattoo artist?
that's what most look like now...
nuts
pithy there red
Are you really that stupid?? This is not purchased for riot control. This is a terror weapon against armed citizens.
There is NO call for a police unit to have an APC and a belt fed Ma Deuce.
“I like it.Show of force to keep down a riot is just what we need.It will also help in hostage situations or showdowns where police are out gunned.”
You won’t like it when Obama sends these house to house searching for your guns.
I guess they are fighting all those Mennonites on their way to church /sarc.
When the sheriff needs a tank, the law abiding citizen’s need anti-tank weapons.
Civilians should always be able to appose police power in the event of rampant police corruption and abuse of power.
Like I send if he could give a good reason for it will save lives. Not just that comment but why it will.
How ofter are you going to run into people with .50 machine guns?? Yes we in the south like guns. But, seriously dud you need this huge armored truck.
It seems like showing off look at this TOY I got the huge new truck. I wouldn’t want them to use this vehicle against people who are lightly armed and just resisting. Show some restaraint.
It just seems police departments want to one-up each other with the NEW thing. Well if it saves lives fine. But a new gadget you may use once that cost a fortune is a waste.
On the other hand if I could get into my car I bet i could out run them! LOL That monster probably gets 1 mile/Gallon? They would look pretty stupid trying to push that to a Gas Station.
But seriously OK seized vehicles and money ok under some circumstances.
But alot of Department seem to seize items they really don’t have a right to or try and get more money than they may need for toys.
I get tired of hearing we need money for the schools (Education) think of the children, more tax dollars. The Police department is arresting more suspects and seize their house and other items that probably weren’t bought with Drug proceeds.
Taking a Car is one think but someone’s home?? The power they have to seize is to easy for them to take an nearly impossible to disprove.
Yeah a guy who deals 10’s or 100’s of thousands of dollars of cocaine take his cars or trucks that he trasport the drugs in but the COPS should have a higher burden of proof.
Taking someone’s car and all their cash money in a bank account when they were caught with a baggie of weed. That’s WRONG! That’s abusing your power. That is not justice.
That is Law enforcement abusing a power given to them. But we always hear about drug arrest and most are for Marijuana.
Which I just don’t think requires someone forfeit most of their assets for possesing. Nor going to jail for longer than some molesting a child or Rape.
Filling up jails with pot heads (Who are generally peacefull) with violent offenders? NO. The Marijuana dealer can go to a diversion court pay fines get treatment do community service.
Save us Some tax dollars here in SC. Were not made of money!! It may not be alot to some people but when your buying toys I’m cutting back on my lifestyle. Because of Taxes and Gasoline mainly.
So how about it. sell the truck to the ATF or whoever will buy it Arnold S. might buy it. And use money to give us some help.
I learned in economics tinstafl there is no free lunch!! The money comes from somewhere.
Just because it was a check from the Gov doesn’t mean it isn’t just your money they are hading back. And want you to thank them. UGHHHH We need to reform the TAX CODE.
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