Police in Salinas, California are under fire after the department acquired a heavily armored military vehicle for SWAT team operations.<\/p>\n
The $650,000 vehicle was gifted to the Salinas Police Department from the government through the 1033 program, which redistributes used equipment to other agencies. According to KSBW, the truck was used in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
According to numerous outlets, police stated their SWAT team was in desperate need of a new vehicle. KSBW added that the new truck, built to withstand rifle fire and minefield explosions, has already aided officers looking to arrest a dangerous suspect. The individual was apparently spotted via the vehicle\u2019s high observation deck.<\/p>\n
While Police Chief Kelly McMillin believes the vehicle\u00a0\u201cprovides a high capability of protection for our officers and the community,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0other members of the community have been outspoken in their disagreement.<\/p>\n Posting on the police department\u2019s Facebook page, citizens criticized the acquisition as excessive, as well as a sign of the militarization of law enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cThat vehicle is made for war,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0wrote one commenter.\u00a0\u201cDo not use my safety to justify that vehicle,\u201d<\/em>another one wrote.\u00a0\u201cThe Salinas Police Department is just a bunch of cowards that want to use that vehicle as intimidation and to terrorize the citizens of this city.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTo stop gang members?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0asked a commenter.\u00a0\u201cHmmm gang members don’t riot in mass numbers. It’s right in front of our faces and we don’t see it. Why would the ARMY!!! give something like that for FREE!!! Let’s think for once people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In an interview with the Salinas Californian, McMillin said he wasn\u2019t surprised at the reaction. However, he disagreed with the charge that the truck\u2019s arrival suggested a more militant police force.<\/p>\n \u201cAn allegation that we are militarizing has to be that we were patrolling the streets in platoons in greater numbers, that we were setting up checkpoints and searching people in and out of neighborhoods,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n McMillin acknowledged that the truck looks intimidating, but insisted it would only be used to protect officers and citizens alike. As commenters continued to criticize the move, however, the police chief took to Facebook and made another statement.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery man and woman in the Salinas Police Department took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cWe take that oath seriously. I thank God we live in a country where we can have this conversation, challenge each other, and challenge the government on how it does its job. Even though I may not agree with all of you, thanks for having a civil discussion.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n With permission Police in Salinas, California are under fire after the department acquired a heavily armored military vehicle for SWAT team operations. The $650,000 vehicle was gifted to the Salinas Police Department from the government through the 1033 program, which redistributes used equipment to other agencies. According to KSBW, the truck was used in Iraq and Afghanistan. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-100837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/a>Source: RT<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"