San Jose police jettison hulking armored transport

[KamaAina]

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_26427806/san-jose-amid-militarization-furor-sjpd-jettisons-hulking

Amid a national furor over police militarization, the San Jose Police Department has decided to get rid of a 15-ton armored vehicle it received earlier this year from a federal military surplus program.

San Jose's move comes right on the heels of similar plans by the city of Davis to jettison its mine-resistant, ambush-protected troop transport, or MRAP. Among the handful of other Bay Area agencies that own the hulking transports, Redwood City, South San Francisco and Antioch are standing by them.

In San Jose, the MRAP, designed to withstand improvised explosive devices used against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been in an undisclosed storage garage in the city. It was being outfitted for street use when police brass -- already facing criticism for their recent purchase of a drone -- decided it wasn't worth the potential damage to the department's image and community relationships.

San Jose police spokeswoman Sgt. Heather Randol said internal department conversations about forfeiting the MRAP were already happening before the vehicles gained wide notoriety during the civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, where local police deployed them for crowd control and sparked a national conversation over their use on American streets.

At last, some good news from the SJPD!

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Ought to bring a pretty penny

at the local scrap yard, eh?

[KamaAina]

2. I am kind of wondering what the aftermarket is for these

Davis is getting rid of its, too.

Demo derby?

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Oh, THAT would be fun to watch.

In a slow kind of way.

[NBachers]

4. Yeah, where does it go next?