<p>Anyone who knows Davis understands just how incongruous this vehicle would look making its way down F Street past the cyclists and students on it’s way to…where? </p>
<p>I’m fine with the idea of appropriate military surplus weapons being available to police departments, but appropriate is the operative word. It’s hard to imagine why Davis, or any of our similar small towns, needs an amored car, or tank, or whatever this is. And yes, the Davis protesters being pepper-sprayed is still a recent, vivid memory. I’d love to know what the Davis PD thinks this thing will be used for. </p>
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DAVIS, Calif. — The police department of this modest college town is among the latest California beneficiaries of surplus military equipment: a $700,000 armored car that is the “perfect vehicle,” the police chief told the City Council, “to perform rescues of victims and potential victims during active shooter incidents.”</p>
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<p>People need to get a grip.</p>
<p>Any complainers that later has a loved one rescued from some nutty shooter while the police use this vehicle are going to eat their words. </p>
<p>I don’t know of an incident where an armored car like this one was used to “rescue victims during active shooter incidents.” I’d love to appreciate it if it were actually used for this. Is there an example where a vehicle like this has been used for this purpose ? </p>
<p>If there is a situation in a town that is so serious as to require military-type strength, we have the National Guard. I see no reason to militarize our civilian police departments and our cities with vehicles like tanks and armored cars intended for war. It’s especially out of place in a town like Davis where the primary mode of transportation is the bicycle, but I don’t want it in my town, either. People distrust our government enough already. The fear is that this will be used primarily for “crowd control” during demonstrations, which is what people have seen them used for.
Good for the citizens of Davis for speaking their mind.</p>
<p>There are SWAT incidents where shooters barricade themselves inside homes fairly regularly in most communities, unfortunately.There are also rescues from fires, floods, etc. where a vehicle like this could be useful. It’s one vehicle in a local station so the National Guard wouldn’t be comparable. That takes time. But, I get that people don’t like the symbolism…</p>
<p>The fact is, we don’t know what might happen. One can spew probabilities, but probabilities do not rule out anything.</p>
<p>That is why a secured – but available --pistol in the home is a life-saver for hundreds each year. Because when a perp breaks into your home, you don’t have time to wait for the cops to save you or your property.</p>
<p>My fear, were I a citizen in this town, would be that the cops would use this thing to unduly oppress the people. “Curfew is 9 pm. Go home.” – that sort of thing.</p>
<p>I think that is on most of the people’s minds. </p>
<p>And Flossy, do you really think shooters barricade themselves in homes requiring SWAT in “most communities fairly regularly?” I’d say it happens sometimes, but not “most communities fairly regularly.” I’d imagine it has never happened in Davis. We’ve never had a shooting incident in our town, either. I guess there’s always a first time, but let’s not militarize our small towns just in case we get a shooting incident. I’m ok with more powerful guns for police, and the SWAT stuff they already have (and they have a lot), but a tank is a good place to draw the line. </p>
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How many people have been shot while inside a police car, m2ck?</p>
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<p>???</p>
<p>What? @romanigypsyeyes I didn’t say anything about being shot inside a police car.</p>
<p>It would be used to approach a nut with a gun.</p>
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There are SWAT incidents where shooters barricade themselves inside homes fairly regularly in most communities, unfortunately.There are also rescues from fires, floods, etc. where a vehicle like this could be useful.
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<p>Flossy, this is a perfect example of when you would *not *want a huge military vehicle going in to get this guy. There is nowhere that says he was armed. He basically closed himself in his home and refused to come out, so police sent in negotiators and their swat, and evacuated the neigboring homes and waited him out.
He wasn’t “a shooter”, but a person under arrest - he had a restraining order against him- who didn’t willingly come out of his home. Exactly how would this new military tank/car have helped here?</p>
<p>One of the problems with “big guns” like this vehicle is that it might escalate situations that really don’t warrant it. That would be one of my fears.</p>
<p>This will probably shock some of the posters here who are familiar with my usual positions on things, but I don’t think this is such a bad idea. NO, the police should not have brought out the military equipment against the protesters in Ferguson, MO. There need to be very strict terms under which this equipment could be used, and of course appropriate training for those who are authorized to use it.</p>
<p>So what if the next strategy of terrorists is multiple attacks at one time? What if, for instance, they target all the shopping malls in one metro area on the day after Thanksgiving? The National Guard can’t be everywhere, or be there instantly.</p>
<p>And there ARE situations that can require a larger response than anyone has anticipated, even in relatively safe places. There have been two domestic violence incidents in my community over the past few years that required a SWAT response. In one, my entire neighborhood was locked down while they searched for the shooter in a large wooded area nearby. In the more recent one, it was a sheriff’s deputy who killed two people in his home.</p>
<p>I’m not arguing against SWAT responses when necessary, and our police have weapons and vehicles that protect them already for domestic criminal activity. Your example proves my point that we have that kind of police protection already, when it’s needed.<br>
I see what you’re saying Sally, but I am not in favor of militarizing our police force (any more than it already is, which is considerable) to prepare for a possible terrorist attack. In cases of terrorism, we have our military. We also have the National Guard for smaller crises, and they do respond quickly and they are trained to handle that kind of thing. Our police are trained in handling domestic criminal activity, not acts of war. </p>
<p>Police departments buy things they should not all the time. Many times they use forfeiture funds. Those funds are something that really needs to be looked into. The corruption involved is beyond reason.</p>
<p>How does a tank escalate a situation? It’s one tank that in some towns would probably mostly be decorated and rolled out for the 4th of July parade. Also, I don’t think police evacuate a neighborhood unless there is a real concern about potential danger. And, it’s surplus equipment so probably a pretty good deal.</p>