Do police need grenade launchers, other military weapons? Officers say yes

[ForgoTheConsequence]

Michigan police departments have armed themselves with grenade launchers, armored vehicles, automatic rifles and other equipment — 128,000 items in all, worth an estimated $43 million — under a federal program that allows police to obtain surplus gear free from the U.S. military.

A Free Press review of items transferred from the military since 2006 shows Michigan law enforcement agencies have received 17 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles or MRAPs, built to counter roadside bombs; 1,795 M16 rifles, the U.S. military’s combat weapon of choice; 696 M14 rifles; 530 bayonet and scabbards; 165 utility trucks; 32 12-gauge, riot-type shotguns; nine grenade launchers; and three observation helicopters.

For instance, Dundee police, who patrol a village of about 4,000 residents, got a mine-resistant ambush vehicle. Barry County in rural western Michigan, with just under 60,000 residents, got five grenade launchers.

Police say they need military-grade weapons to counter heavily armed drug dealers, mass shooters and terrorists. Armored vehicles can be used against barricaded gunmen, to evacuate citizens in emergencies or to quell riots, while high-powered, automatic rifles keep police from being outgunned by bad guys.


http://www.freep.com/article/20140817/NEWS06/308170094/Police-Militarization-Michigan




Ugh.

[valerief]

1. Boys love their exploding toys. nt

[Bragi]

2. Yes indeed

These military kits are needed for maybe .001 per cent of the incidents with which police deal.

These incidents do not include crowd control, stopping jaywalkers, serving writs, or enforcing library fines.

[atreides1]

3. Never realized

...that Canada was such a hot bed of drug dealers, mass shooters, and terrorists!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. The town of Royalton, MN (pop. 1,242) has a grenade launcher.

They don't want it, have no use for it, and can't seem to get rid of it.

The city’s police got it from another agency and Chief Adam Gunderson thought he could transfer it to another department. It could also be used for firing tear gas, but Gunderson said he has never purchased ammunition for it, and no one has come forward to take it off his hands.

The three-officer department in central Minnesota has used the surplus program to obtain more practical equipment, like optics for rifles and three new laptops, all for the cost of shipping. But a bemused Gunderson sees no value in his grenade launcher.

For now, it sits in the department’s gun safe.

“It’s just figuring out what to do with it,” Gunderson said. “The government doesn’t really want it back.”

http://www.startribune.com/local/271538471.html And lots more about police departments' military surplus stuff in this article.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Free shit is cool, man! Especially free shit that goes BANG! and gives one a feeling of

power over others.

[ladjf]

6. They need the weapons in order to more effectively terrorize the people. nt