Gillen's agency recently spent $1,500 to buy an armored personnel carrier -- something the department couldn't have afforded without the program.

If it gets to the point where your local law enforcement officers actually NEED a new APC, then you might be in a civil war....

Great point, Submitter. I would much rather the military just throw away the stuff it doesn't need anymore instead of getting some more use out of it.

send that shiat on down to miami, let's take out the trash.

It will provide extreme cover for our officers if they need to ram a building or whatever they need to do," he said.

Yeah, in case there is someone smoking a joint inside or something.

Great point, LordPistachio: I would much rather the police be decked out like a military unit just to show off.

weaver95

I've seen SWAT teams use something similar to an APC to approach a house containing an armed suspect. They Could also be useful during Riots. Let's see a mob try and tip one of those things over.

jafiwam do you even read some of the florida tag headlines? there's some farked up stuff going on in that state

This should keep the Florida tag around for years to come.

considering florida's moving quickly into the big leagues of meth production, the ability to take out those tweaky mofos (who invariably have high-power guns, at least in these parts) is a good thing to have.

/concentrate on tweakers
//meth is teh debbil

Darthmalt: Let's see a mob try and tip one of those things over.

I accept your challenge good sir~

Just how many drunk rioters *would* it take to tip an APC? I don't know but I'm willing to drink til I find out.

Floridians decked out with military gear & vehicles.

This can only end well...

The Police Dpts are also getting things like Heavy Duty trucks and to haul boats dive platforms for search and rescue. Along with Helicopters and parts for said helicopters which are expensive.

It's better than a junk yard or putting the helicopters in some boneyard where they will sit and rot.

God damn it--

Sell it to the Michigan Militia.

Canada will be ours.

Canada will be ours.

Hell half of it would surrender on the spot

Honda Accord- 3,200 lbs
M113 APC- 27,000 lbs

Lift with the legs!

Let's just send in the Army to patrol our cities... that's pretty much what we are doing anyway. Bunch of wannabees in SWAT gear trying to act tough... Modern police agencies are nothing more than para-military organizations. Far from the beat-cop persona...

I welcome our black helicoptered overseers

Kinmuan

Vietnam era M-113 APCs weigh 10.5 Tons

Anybody able to do the math?


For comparison a pontiac vibe weighs just under 1.5 And takes several people rocking it back and forth to get it to flip.

Where's MY $1500 APC? I need one for, like, offroading!

Um, why don't we end this pointless failure that we call "The War on Drugs" so that we can spend less money on prisons and military equipment for the police and more money on drug treatment and addiction counselling?

/will never happen because it would put too many narcs out of work and too many corrections people would need to get real jobs.

Hugh_Janus
Hell half of it would surrender on the spot

Quebec isn't 50% of Canada...

I would much rather the police be decked out like a military unit just to show off.

Cops are getting more and more military, for some reason.

Last spring I walked out to a little-used section of a large city park, and saw a good couple dozen or so guys decked out in full combat gear on the other side of a fence (they were in a parking lot behind an abandoned warehouse). Camo, helmets, rifles, the works. At first I thought the National Guard was doing something. Then I rounded a corner and saw a big orange sign that they had place at one end of the parking lot that said, "POLICE TRAINING - KEEP AWAY"

They were cops. Training like Army soldiers.

Makes me wonder what the hell is in store for us in the (near?) future.

/does not live in Florida
//does apparently live in a police state

"We invested about $1,000 in paint and decals. It would have cost $300,000 for a new one. It will provide extreme cover for our officers if they need to ram a building or whatever they need to do," he said.

Yep - whatever they need to do.

WASSUP ELIAN! GET IN THA CHOPPA

I live in a pretty decent neighborhood in Baltimore. Every three nights or so we get a hot-dog helicopter pilot who is "looking for bad guys" who finds it enjoyable to buzz my house about 50 feet off the ridgeline... repeatedly.

I've never seen anything like it elsewhere. You'd think we had 100 murders and other crimes a day here. (Nothing serious in 10 years...)

Complaining does no good. When they crash, which is notnoocommon, they never mention how retarded the pilots are.

Communist Toaster: Quebec isn't 50% of Canada...

Have you tried telling *them* that? ;p

Those helicopters are not black.
They are very dark green.

LordPistachio: I would much rather the police be decked out like a military unit just to show off.

Reason we have to be decked out like that is because the bad guys have more firepower than we do. Its no fun when bank robbers have ak47-s and you have a 9mm glock and you have to take them into custody.

The APCs aren't so much for protecting troops, as turning them into this:



It's a lot safer and easier to take out an armed suspect or two that are guarding a door when you break down the wall behind them.

Backing up miamiguy

N. Hollywood shootout pops

Rockhill south carolina shootout..

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1618325116174896808&q=rock+hill+police +shootout&hl=en

miamiguy [TotalFark]

LordPistachio: I would much rather the police be decked out like a military unit just to show off.

Reason we have to be decked out like that is because the bad guys have more firepower than we do. Its no fun when bank robbers have ak47-s and you have a 9mm glock and you have to take them into custody.

In all fairness, I'm sure you can appreciate how unsettling it is for people to step out their door only to find that their city has been occupied by what is effectively a small military... actually in the case of NYPD, it's probably a medium sized military compared to most other countries armies. During the RNC, we had the 'Atlas' cops deployed near where I worked at the time (Chelsea Piers)... one morning on my way to work, this guy about half a block in front of me had a backpack with a whole bunch of anti-Republican pins on it... he walked right by two cops, one of whom promptly smacked him in the back of the knee with an asp, bringing him down immediately... the first thing he shouted was "if you want to wear that kind of sh@t, you should be in one of the free speech pens." The guy was just one of the maintenance people at the piers on his way to work. Anyways, the point is, whenever any one group has consolidated too much power, there is almost inherently abuse of that power.

Even now, just a couple days ago, the NYPD was finally forced by a court to turn over tapes they made of the arrests of hundreds of different people who were claiming police brutality. In theory, the video cameras protect the cops from wrongful claims of brutality, and they protect the citizens from being unlawfully assaulted by LEO's. In practice... they had consolidated power, nobody could stop them, and they knew it.

I used to be an Air Force SF (security forces, not special... they were what the USAF used to call MPs), so I know how hard it is to be a cop. That said, it seems like more and more (not just with LEO's) we are taking paranoid and hyper-reactive stances that unnecessarily do more harm than good, all in the name of safety.

They give this stuff to state and local agencies across the entire nation, not just florida.

THere were a couple dozen of these releases last week on the AP wire. One story per state.

firefly: "if you want to wear that kind of sh@t, you should be in one of the free speech pens."

classy. too bad that one couldn't have taken someone's place in the towers.

Vietnam era M-113 APCs weigh 10.5 Tons

Anybody able to do the math?


For comparison a pontiac vibe weighs just under 1.5 And takes several people rocking it back and forth to get it to flip.


Several X 8 or 9 then. Well within the numbers available in even a small mob or tiny riot.

firefly212

I'd agree with your position if you were talking about Florida cops being outfitted with Bradley's, M1's and F-16s. What they're talking about here is a dive platform, a plane that any civilian can buy, a couple of boats, etc. Yes, they bought an M113. Big deal. Unless it has a .50 mounted on it, it's not a weapon, it's exactly what they described - an Amored Personnel Carrier. Not an armed carrier. It's simply a safer way for officers to deploy than a car.

mikaloyd: Several X 8 or 9 then. Well within the numbers available in even a small mob or tiny riot.

Hmm, yes, but is there enough space on either side of said vehicle, for each person to get their hands on the APC, and apply a proper amount of force?

Get some! Get some! (firing sounds)

If they run, they're a speeder!

If they don't run, they're a well-disciplined speeder!

Get some! Get some!

Florida has it's on subject flag why? Because farkers are still in disbelief that Gore lost?

Going outside now, nice beach walk and sunset, T-shirt, no shoes, babes in bikinis.

gradatim: They were cops. Training like Army soldiers.

Makes me wonder what the hell is in store for us in the (near?) future.

They're doing it gradually, hoping nobody notices. The goal is to blur the lines between a civilian police force and the military. I'd speculate they're doing it so, in the event of martial law, they can station an armed soldier on every street corner and roll tanks through the cities without having people freak out. After all, the police are here to protect us, right?

Hmm, yes, but is there enough space on either side of said vehicle, for each person to get their hands on the APC, and apply a proper amount of force?

Don't forget to take the width and height of the vehicle into consideration. Both the change in leverage and the breakpoint for rollover are not going to be in your favor.

Darthmalt For comparison a pontiac vibe weighs just under 1.5 And takes several people rocking it back and forth to get it to flip.

My friend Paulie and I flipped a full sized mid 70s station wagon on it roof in the mid 80s. I should say he is unnaturally naturally strong, and handled the front - but I am also no weakling.

It only took the two of us, and we did it with one clean lift - I guarantee a 70s Ford full size station wagon weighs a hell of a lot more than a puny plastic Vibe.

Now the question is if the tax payers in Florida can afford to maintain the equipment.

OMG IT'S TEH POLICE STATE!!! COPS WEAR BODY ARMOR AND TRAIN!!!

We MUST stop cops from training and getting weapons. It's for our own good. I mean, it makes me feel bad to see cops training and looking like they are in protective equipment. And if there is one thing I don't like, it's feeling bad.

If only we negotiated or paid off hostage takers, robbers, kidnappers, and rapists, then we wouldn't need these cops who are going to ruin our community. Everyone would be free and happy!

It's better than scrapping the stuff. A lot of it has gone to good use.

Also, it's not just Florida who gets this stuff. All governments have a crack at it. From what I remember, after the military gets done with an item, there's an order as to who gets a look at it. First crack:

Other DOD (no charge)
Other Fed Govt (no charge)
State govts
Municipal govts
Non profits/schools
You

Everyone but you goes here to see what's available: http://www.drms.dla.mil/

If you want something, go here: http://www.govliquidation.com/

Too bad the cops aren't fit enough to use this equipment.

If they've gone through bootcamp then they deserve to use these materials if not, they're just a bunch of spoiled pigs with new and excessive toys used to harrass the public.

What purpose does military equipment built for war play in the role of civilian life?

erewhon: Get some! Get some! (firing sounds)

How can you shoot women and children?

Easy, you just don't lead em so much...

Stupid article.

DRMO has been around for many years...was on a rescue squad a few years back..half our vehicles were from the fed...including a mobile command post that would have run
around a quarter million if we hadn't done for ourselves..

Luck trying to flip a 114, they are built NOT to tip while on muddy hills and such. They dont have nice soft edged tires and soft suspension. Plus their about as wide as a Semi.

Not to mention the Cops that come pouring out the back pissed your trying to flip their ride =)

The Police are there to protect and serve you.