The question might become would those Paramil cops be enforcing the will of the 5% on the 95% or the other way round. As an ex cop i will always believe that the function of the police is to maintain law and order, crime prevention and investigation. My belief is if you have civil unrest, riots use the military or create a specialized military section to deal with riotors.Militarisation !!!! Just you bloody well wait until your Muslim population exceeds 5% THEN Sir THEN you will be bloody glad of Paramil cops in armoured cars.
I always am baffled by nice Americans who object to their police having the same sort of weapons and vehicles many citizens can have.
I would not consider SWAT, paramil either they are the same as our Task Force Members, main function and porpose for these units are to get to the difficult criminals be it circumstance or notirioty. They are surgical teams for very specific functions. On the other hand you have Riot Police which is a very blunt object, they hammer anything thats out of place in any given situation they are placed in. When these members are given more equipment than what is needed to fullfil their duty, that raises concerns with me, 1. Someone somewhere is making a lot of money 2. What is the agenda. (In the public arena when you buy something and it is not used, too many questions will be asked.)Very well stated Joe SA! I don't think my four neighbors, one that is a member of the local SWAT, believes that they are paramilitary. Last I checked, even my friends who are off duty providing the deterrence for another Littleton or Sandy Creek, don't think that way, they are simple guys trying to make a living on really crappy pay. Short of getting on the city owned training range to keep their proficiency up, it is sad to think that many have to get their own crap. Lets face it, in my town, the new officers for the most part drive those crappy Crown Vic's. Most wade into more paperwork than I do, on any given day, even if it is on a computer, but still they have to get it done, because lord knows that Texas has one large statutes book, let Joe SA tell you about that one. Thank god it is on computer.
Now, I am not going to discount the fact that said leadership in this town, will not turn down a free government armored vehicle, they have a few HMMVW's and even a mine resistant vehicle, but why should they not apply for them, it was Obama who let the DMRO guys sell them in the first place, only after the Ferguson fiasco, did Obama begin thinking wow, we have these military wanna-be's. I still believe officer safety is paramount, not because the folks nearby are people I know, but because they place their lives each and every day on the line to keep us safe. I know some of you are saying, Silent Bob, your some (Female Anatomy 101)...well think again, my wife is more concerned about the other guy behind the door than she is for my own safety.
For those who are opponents toward mil vehicles for our police agencies, think about this, many of the agencies got a load of d-mil'd, HMMVW. Ever drive one, they drive like pigs down a highway, so much so that typically the Army would send a cutvee (GMC) or pickup to lead the vehicle convoys down America's highways during deployments to ports. These HMMVW's are not the pampered ones that Hummer sold to those wealthy folks that want them as a "hey, look at me", those have air-conditioning and all the creature comforts. Also anyone who knows that when we drove them in Iraq and the Stan and took rounds, its like placing a rock in a coke can and shaking it around, everything else is fair game. They look cool to the locals, but for hardened folks, they are death traps. Now the MRAP, that is a whole nother beasty...the MAXX or Cougar, well, those are bloody monsters, I'd love to own one, and for that fact, I'd love to get my fat butt in the engine block and work on them.
My other thought is this, I always love it when some media outlet starts comparing our LE as some Neo-Nazi regime, when really, these guys are no different then the rest of us, just we are not sworn to uphold the law and they do. So if a county sheriff or city PD gets some MRAP from DRMO consignment, guess what, those guys are going to ride quite nicely to a shoot out and when and if their is a riot, locals might want to think twice before they throw a bottle full of gas at them, they ain't hurting the guys inside and sure enough those law breakers, hope they get burned throwing them. By the way, if SHTF, three of my neighbors will be pulling up stakes with my family anyway, so watch how many homes and business will burn then.
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