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The police need this for...? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago by Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world to c/thepoliceproblem@lemmy.world

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[-] Exusia@lemmy.world 42 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Police don't but they often want a vehicle for SWAT related reasons, but SWAT trucks costs hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile MRAPs are "free".

Prosper, Texas is home to 40,000 people. In 2010 their population was under 10k. They have quadrupled in size and are near the DFW area, so it's not really a surprise they took the 1033 offer for an MRAP. That said most of these decom'd heaps of shit are loathesomely expensive. "High Cost of Free MRAPs" by Strongtowns. Most MRAPs being given out are first and second gen versions. And for those first gens, they got sent to the front lines of the GWOT and got beat to shit while newer ones were tested and approved. These old models they're "giving out for free" have tire drum parts never used on later versions, transmissions like that of an F650 with half the reliability, and are ticking time bombs of use. Most cities often estimate maintenance costs at $5k per year, until something actually breaks and they have to get a second MRAP to cannibalize to fix the first. (Hint - that's why you often see them picked up in pairs or more)

That's before the optics. Petaluma, California has one and the police chief has even said "yeah it kinda has some bad optics sending police around in a former war machine".

If your city is wanting to pick one up, it's because someone who has zero experience with them really likes the idea of a big scary diesel monster rolling up on drug houses, and hasn't actually considered that if they can't pony up thousands of tax dollars every 6 months to keep the moneymonster fed, the only place it's gonna drive is into a storage shed.

Edit: I should add that these vehicles are incredibly versatile and aren't necessarily a bad thing for municipalities. With their ride height, sheer bulk, and high torque engines, Fire and rescue could probably make great use them in several cities. They make fantastic road clearing vehicles in the event of large accidents needing to move to the side of the road, or pushing debris out of the way. Additionally in flood prone areas they make very good rescue vehicles due to their ride height and "crew space" inside. They DO have value outside of terrorizing civilian populations, just that that's all PDs will use them for.

[-] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 5 points 5 months ago

“Storage shed, you say” - Local Sheriff

[-] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Thank you for the extra information.

this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2024

967 points (99.1% liked)

THE POLICE PROBLEM

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All this is a path to a police state.

In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.

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