Well, you’re going to give the army some ideas, they will start giving their books to schools.
Well, a training manual is never a bad thing to have. And reading anything will help students become better and smarter.
Cross posting my post the last time this was posted elsewhere, asking “Why Do They Need This?” The Police Problem sublemmy post
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.
So it’s a subscription service…
Nah, this is lemmy, dude. No one here is going to read that logical reason why this happened and change their minds.
I’ve read it!
their post is right in line with how lemmy thinks about these though. The whole thing is about how stupid they are in terms of costs, how the people who get them like it because they look tough, and provides statements from a police chief about how it makes them look bad. The edit discussing some of the possible usefulness of them, are things you never see these being used for. I don’t understand the reason for your comment. Did you read the post?
One of the interesting things for the possible usefulness though is you never see firehouses acquiring these. They already have tools that achieve all the use cases. That’s half of fires deal, being prepared for all sorts of emergencies - not just fires.
Yeah I started typing about the equipment emergency services have that cover everything they are likely to encounter, and they use those, instead of MRAPs, because they are better specialized for their job, and far more cost effective. I ended up not feeling like finishing it.
thank god you are here, the only sane person in the ocean of insanity! 😂
Yeah, cities that get them have no clue about the long term costs. A lot of those ‘free’ units are now just sitting in a fenced parking lot and are unusable.
When I was younger and a volunteer firefighter in a small rural town, we needed to replace one of our ‘grass rigs’ for fighting wildland fires. We had used it for over 35 years - and we got it second hand from our state DNR for free. We thought a Humvee truck style bed would make a fantastic grass rig. We checked in on it and the DOD straight up told us nope, you can’t have a used one - no one can get one. We use them for target practice. Perhaps they saved us from a money pit. We ended up with another used pickup from the DNR return pool.
/infuriatingdystopia
This is because Texas cops have those enormous attack surfaces on their brittle brittle egos.
Plus who doesn’t love to LARP?
It’s part of the Dallas/Ft Worth metro, but that cost is something like $18 per person in the town.
$18 utterly wasted.
Setting $18/person on fire would have been more beneficial to the community.
Are they spending $18 per person on schools? Another $18 per person on libraries? What about hospitals?
Socialism! REEEEEEE!!! Why do you hate America???
That’s kind of my point. $18 per person is a ridiculous cost. They have a population of ~37,000 people. It would be less inexcusable if it were in Dallas (~1.3m). I mean, police stations don’t need vehicles like that at all, but it’s even more disgusting that a town that small spent money on that.
The police didn’t pay anything for it, it’s on a free loan from DoD. US taxpayers paid something for it for sure but the police (and specifically DFW people didn’t have to foot that bill
That’s a lie, they have to pay shipping, conversion and up keep.
They probably already spent 150k to get there and set up…
They cropped out the no parking line.
Truly repugnant
What else are local governments going to buy with the opiate settlement money? Rehabilitative support options?
They bought it? I thought they are surplus from the army?
There’s always money changing hands. If not, there’s no way to steer some into the pockets of politicians, their friends, or their owner donors.
MRAPs are army surplus. This looks like a recreational vehicle they bought for monster truck rallies.
This says it’s an MRAP and that they didn’t pay anything for it: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/prosper-police-departments-emergency-vehicle/3560134/
Which is a lie, they are responsible for shipping costs, conversion cost, and maintenance.
They probably spent 150-200k just getting in and set up.
What the fuck are the cops even gonna do with an MRAP. The vehicle is made for resisting mines and IEDs, most police will never come across that shit.
Using the 2014 Ferguson unrest as an example, they drive around in minority neighborhoods wrecking the streets, sidewalks and parks, whoop and hollar and lob CS-gas grenades willy-nilly so the whole neighborhood can’t breathe.
Don’t forget all the money they get from the civil asset forfeiture auctions.
To adapt an old joke: “If you see a raging dipshit driving like a lunatic in the middle of the road with their giant-ass car, you should contact the nearest police officer immediately. It’s possible they’re behind the wheel.”
What is a vehicle like that even for?
Spreading managed Democracy!
Military surplus. Cheaper than buying a tahoe and loading it up with police equipment.
There’s absolutely no fucking god damned way in the 7 hells that a Tahoe with Police shit in it $700,000.
And if police departments are spending that much on a Tahoe, they need to be dismantled and investigated for embezzlement.
They did not pay 700,000 on it. They get them for basically scrap value.
Do you have any idea how much it costs to service something like that??? You don’t take it down to the local garage. The thing probably costs 30k a year just in service costs.
I hope you realize what you’re saying is that taxpayers paid less for the same vehicle the second time than they did the first time.
Well yes. I dont see the problem with reusing stuff. Hell, isnt the motto Reduce Reuse Recycle?
“Reusing” and “rebuying” are two different things.
Theyre buying the truck from the military for near scrap value, its not like they’re paying 700k twice. And yes it is reusing.
The police didn’t pay anything for it, apparently. It’s on loan from DoD
But, in exchange they pay to maintain it and the DoD can take it back any time they want.
Running over protesters.
It’s apparently a “Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle”. What is it for: “It’s designed for high-water rescues (which saved many people this past week during the floods), active shooter situations, hostage rescues and other critical incidents, ensuring the safety of our officers and community,”
ACAB is a shit hole state.
ACAB.
Multi-purpose? Name one (that isn’t better served by another vehicle).
Announcing their micropenises
This vehicle is ludicrous and Prosper shouldn’t have it.
But a “multipurpose” device is almost never the best thing for any given purpose.
My Leatherman is an amazing tool, but I have much better standalone knives, screwdrivers, pliers, and scissors.
Running over protestors? Yeah, maybe a tank would be even better, but I don’t think that counts, also less comfortable to drive.
I don’t think you understand the meaning of multi purpose.
Low speed chases
Not one, but multiple purposes.
Its a good job they’re pointing at it otherwise I wouldn’t have known it was there.
What are the multiple purposes of this vehicle?
Just looks like a jacked up six seater truck.
Running over black people.
And left-leaning protestors.
Found this: “It’s designed for high-water rescues (which saved many people this past week during the floods), active shooter situations, hostage rescues and other critical incidents, ensuring the safety of our officers and community,”
