Posted on 05/30/2009 6:56:12 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A $226,000 armored vehicle for the North Richland Hills Police Department SWAT team arrived a few days ago to replace one the agency got in 1990.
To many people that vehicle — and others like it used by police departments across the country — will go unnoticed. The public seems to largely accept the use of military-type equipment, technology and tactics as not only appropriate but also necessary to fight crime and make communities more safe and secure.
Armored vehicles are used by law enforcement agencies in Fort Worth, Arlington and Bedford and at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, just to name a few. Some police departments have assault rifles, noise-flash devices and grenade launchers. Arlington even sought federal money for a drone aircraft.
But some criminal-justice experts are troubled by law enforcement agencies’ growing use of military-style equipment. Rather than employ such equipment only in extreme situations, the critics say, their use is becoming commonplace, leading police to use unnecessary force and intimidating residents. For example, some cite an episode last year in which police used a battering ram to raid a Duncanville swingers club when no one answered a knock.
"We have been witnesses to a little-noticed but nonetheless momentous historical change — the traditional distinctions between military/police, war/law and internal/external security are rapidly blurring," said criminal justice professor Peter Kraska, of Eastern Kentucky University, in one on his studies on the militarization of police departments.
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
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Time has to be set aside for proper firarms practice
And a good budget for range ammo
The average cop in NY state could only hit a close target about 5% of the time
To any young teenaged hunter or military trainee that is a joke
They are often too busy getting their donuts and free coffee at the corner convenience store, lol.
One definitely must wonder exactly WHAT they think they are preparing for...
Rock on! Let's hate all the little piggies!
Or they might be looking South of the Border, at the increased firepower and militant and violent tendencies of the drug gangs.
VietVet
Dallas area LEOs weren't so bad until the 1990s, and there are still quite a few decent ones in the mix. Unfortunately there have been a lot of incidents (fortunately that haven't gotten much press coverage nationally, so hopefully their reputation can be salvaged if things get cleaned up) involving faked evidence in drug busts, bogus tickets, intimidation, bribery, etc. that haven't been addressed due to political concerns.
The Sheriff's department is a bit worse, unfortunately; and probably so morally corrupt now that the organization is irredeemable even if a decent sheriff were to ever get elected (not likely in Dallas county these days, sadly). There are still some good people out there, but if you can talk to them privately they'll drop hints about some really serious corruption and scandalous behavior.
Things aren't hopeless, however. A lot of the suburbs in the DFW area have great police departments, and the constables are still virtuous.
I wonder what they are going to do with the old one.
VietVet
“The average cop in NY state could only hit a close target about 5% of the time
To any young teenaged hunter or military trainee that is a joke”
Hell, I’ve taken some female friends out to the range before, and they did pretty decently. for their first time shooting. Never touched a firearm before, and they can hit a paper target at 50 yards, with no scope. I would hope that a cop could do better than that with a pistol at 10 or even 25 feet. :/
When the police forces of America return to the days of “serve and protect” instead of “to intimidate and oppress”, when they abandon their current “half-tax collector half para-military authoritarian adolescent” status my contempt may once again morph into respect.
Until then I know too many cops personally and have had enough encounters with them in other ways to allow myself the luxury of pretending they just peachy guys.
The job itself has become one that attracts a certain demographic - a very dysfunctional one.
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I started with safety and accuracy at age 7 at the farm; Ft. Jackson and Ft. Benning did not improve my firearm skills or instincts.
My Colt .44-40 SA (7-1/2”) is hanging in one of my rigs about 3 feet from me.
I draw and get off 3-4 accurate shots before I even see the sights.
There are some who can do that.
Unfortunately the active LEOs in Broward that I communicate with daily tell me that their departments do not consider regular intensive training and plenty of rangetime a priority.
Vests and 9mm Glocks are worthless if you cannot perform under pressure in every conceivable situation.
My (original) Bianchi #111 Cyclone crossdraw is my favorite carry rig.
Make my day.....
Back atcha bumpers !!
So true. When someone comes into my town, where we are the dysfunctional police, they get put on total LOCK DOWN.
US Constitution? There is no such thing in my town. I mean a mouse can’t fart in my town without it getting cleared through one of us dysfunctional police officers.You have no idea how many people we beat down every night or dogs we kill, just for fun. We are so inept at being police officers that we have no other option but to “intimidate and oppress” & I tell you, it works. In fact, next week we’re having all our patches replaced with “SS lightning bolts” and “Deaths Head Skulls”. It’s great to be a police officer because I get paid to run around and do whatever I want and I’ve never had any training whatsoever. They just gave me a badge after the Neo-Nazis and KKK swore me in.
We have landscape that is such you can see people coming miles off almost. Think over the horizon ocean with grass plains . Thus we have a SWAT Team that is jump qualified. HAHO & HALO ..... Yep, sitting on the porch, watching the sun go down, drinking a cold one and next thing ya know ya have 16 men armed like the best spec ops sorts slide in on 9 cell squares within meters of the house.
Seen em taking down meth labs like this here in remote areas.
Long as you're sworn in. If it makes you feel better the corrections officers I met were even loopier than the loopiest of you footpads (even when my cop-buddies were drunk off their ass.)
We now use the military to keep the peace in distant lands while arming local “peace” officers for paramilitary operations against citizens.
And yes, crooks are citizens. The Bill of Rights has special portions of it designed to protect the accused. It is meant for the guilty, not for the innocent!
Why isn’t a nine year old armored vehicle good enough for a police department?
Most of the armor in the military inventory is much older than that.
“Better trained cops - ex-military
Would be a better way to go”
I don’t think ex-military should be allowed on a police force for at least 3 years after they leave the military. That way they can “deprogram” from the military point of view that everyone else is the bad guys. They need to realize that police work is law enforcement, not warfare.
And I am retired from the Army, 20 years as a tanker.
Most of the low IQ “little piggies” as you call them have earned the scorn.
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