Public School Police Receive Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle Police for San Diego city schools have obtained a war-grade armored vehicle from the Department of Defense. By Sarah Lazare for Common Dreams | September 13, 2014
The 2013 Caiman MRAP acquired by the San Diego Unified School District Police Department. (Photo Courtesy of San Diego Unified School District)
The police department for San Diego’s public schools recently revealed that they have acquired a large armored combat vehicle from the U.S. military.
The $700,000 mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle (MRAP), which is designed to withstand blasts from improvised explosive devices and mines, was given to law enforcement for the Unified School District in April. The vehicle was transferred through the Department of Defense’s controversial 1033 program, which authorizes the military to donate what it considers surplus military equipment to police and sheriff departments in the United States, including tanks and weapons used in the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
This and other federal programs that flood local law enforcement with weapons of war have fallen under increased scrutiny following the crackdown by heavily armed riot police and military service members on protesters in Ferguson, Missouri opposing the police killing of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown. Numerous other San Diego police agencies have received weapons from the military, although the MRAP stands out for its high dollar value.
The police department acknowledged that the MRAP is likely to be controversial.
“I can totally see people thinking ‘Oh, my God. Are they going to be rolling armored vehicles into our schools and what the hell’s going on?’” said Joe Florentino, a captain with the department, to local media. He claimed that the vehicle will be used during situations of emergency to keep kids safe.
But numerous organizations and institutions have warned that the militarization of U.S. police has dangerous consequences for civilians. An American Civil Liberties Union report released in June details needless deaths and terror at as a result of “unnecessarily and dangerously militarized” policing. “Neighborhoods are not war zones, and our police officers should not be treating us like wartime enemies,” the report states.
The armored vehicle has already stirred concern in the Unified School District, which serves 132,000 students from preschool to 12th grade. Board Trustee Scott Barnett stated in a press release issued Thursday that the acquisition is a “misguided priority.”
However, Barnett said it was not the excessive arming of the police he was worried about, but rather, what he considers to be the higher priority of replacing old police cruisers. He argued that the vehicle should be leased to nearby police agencies to raise money for upgraded vehicles. The “Ferguson controversy,” said Barnett, is likely to make it “much more difficult for local police agencies to obtain these vehicles, so we may actually have a hot commodity.”
Report: School Districts Are Receiving Free Military Gear From The Pentagon
AP Photo / Jeff Roberson ByDylan ScottPublishedSeptember 15, 2014, 2:18 PM EDT 7316 views
More than 20 school districts in the United States have been equipped with military-grade equipment through the federal program that provides such gear to local and state authorities free of charge, according to civil rights groups.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Texas Appleseed, a legal advocacy group, sent a letter on behalf of a coalition of civil rights groups to the federal agency that administers the program on Monday. The letter requested reforms be made to the 1033 program, which has come under significant scrutiny after the heavily armed police response to protests in Ferguson, Mo., last month.
The letter cited "published reports" that have showed military equipment being transferred from the Pentagon to the school districts. It said the total number of transfers from the Defense Department to U.S. schools "is difficult to determine."
KPBS in Sand Diego reported that the city's school district had received a mine-resistant vehicle. KTLA in Los Angeles reported that the district there had also received its own mine-resistant vehicle as well as grenade launchers. KHOU in Houston reported that local school districts had received military firearms.
A school district in Edinburg, Texas, has employed a full SWAT unit, according to the letter, which is equipped through the 1033 program. The groups pointed to a news image that showed officers in military fatigues standing in front of school buses.
"It is frankly difficult to imagine how a grenade launcher, or any of these items, could be safely used in any scenario involving schools," the letter said.
School districts in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada and Utah have received military equipment, according to the groups.
"Taxpayer dollars should be steered away from investments in increased law enforcement and militarization of schools and towards supporting solutions that address the root causes of school safety concerns and provide students with the services and supports they need to succeed," the letter concluded.
In the wake of the Ferguson protests, President Barack Obama has reportedly ordered a review of the 1033 program and others. Congress is also holding hearings on the programs this month
The vehicle, a behemoth in brown camouflage paint, is now parked out of sight in front of a steamroller in a gully next to a city garage; on a recent day, a lone pigeon cooed overhead.
Police Armored Vehicle Is Unwelcome in California College Town
By ADAM NAGOURNEYSEPT. 13, 2014
Photo Lt. Thomas W. Waltz of Davis, Calif., with the local police department’s armored vehicle. Credit Max Whittaker for The New York Times Continue reading the main story Share This Page
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.”
It is well maintained, low-mileage and free, the chief, Landy Black, said in explaining why the department had augmented its already sizable cache of surplus matériel, including rifles, body armor and riot helmets, with an MRAP: a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle.
But the City Council directed Chief Black last month to get rid of it in the face of an uproar that had swept through this community, with many invoking the use of similar equipment by the police against protesters in Ferguson, Mo., after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager.
SWAT teams were created in the 1960s to combat hostage-takings, sniper shootings, and violent unrest. But today they’re often used in more controversial police work. Video Credit By Retro Report on Publish Date September 7, 2014.
“This thing has a turret — it’s the kind of thing that is used in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Dan Wolk, the mayor. “Our community is the kind of community that is not going to take well to having this kind of vehicle. We are not a crime-ridden city.”
The mayor added: “When it comes to help from Washington we, like most communities, have a long wish list. But a tank, or MRAP, or whatever you choose to call it, is not on that list.”
The Council’s decision set off waves of concern among police officials across the state and highlighted the fact that California — whose crime rate, like those of many other states, is on the decline — has one of the highest concentrations of surplus military equipment in the nation. That is perhaps not surprising for large cities like Los Angeles, but it is just as true in generally placid seaside getaways like Santa Barbara and here in this quiet community outside Sacramento.
Since 2006, police agencies in California have received 8,533 surplus assault weapons, shotguns and pistols, as well as 7,094 pieces of night-vision equipment, the highest allocation of any state in those categories, according to the Defense Department. Over that period, it also received 49 armored vehicles, with only Texas and Florida obtaining more; 59 helicopters and airplanes, second to Florida; 2,370 knives and bayonets, second to Texas; and 18 grenade launchers for tear gas and smoke grenades, trailing Florida and North Carolina.
The trend of putting such gear in the hands of police departments has raised concerns all around the country after the sight of police officers with armed vehicles and sniper rifles pointed at demonstrators in Ferguson. President Obama has called for a review of the military surplus program, with an eye toward curbing or canceling it. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is also planning hearings, and some members of Congress are talking about proposing legislation to limit the program.
At the City Council meeting in Davis where the vote took place, nearly 40 people spoke, and almost everyone urged the Council to return the MRAP. Council members were also deluged with emails.
The backlash worries some law enforcement officials.
it's suppose to make you feel 'safer'! ya know.....from the 'boogie man'!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
How much are new tires, and who is the local dealer where I can get the parts to fix it?
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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