DID YOU KNOW The Redwood City Police Department Now Owns a Former Military Tank?

Build it and they will come.
Let’s paraphrase that….
Buy it or get it and they will use it.

Yes, the price was right. It was free; but the free gift giveaways that the US Federal military is giving small police departments across the country are really changing the nature and ability of police forces around the country to manage and control local populations. Consider them the gift that keeps on giving and not necessarily in the way you may have wanted them to.

As American society struggles with the right balance of police action and control (no need to mention Michael Brown and Ferguson, MO) further arming and enabling these departments with gifts from the national armed forces is probably counter-productive. As the defense industry continues to claim to innovate and therefore have to sell its new goods to the federal government, the federal government is looking for new ways of getting rid of technically outmoded equipment that was actually meant for use in a war zone. However the number of acceptable buyers is scarce. Most countries and private armies that would be happy to buy this equipment and pay real dollars for it would be effectively a case of arming the enemy so instead the federal government is forced to gift these items to domestic entities such as police departments. (They could simply destroy them or even recycle them.)

So what does the police department of a town such as Redwood City of less than 80,000 people located in one of the most affluent counties in the nation need a military tank last used in a war zone for? The reality however is rest assured now that they have one they will want to use it. In fact what I have to wonder now is is this why the police department is scheduling all these “Active Shooter/Mass Casualty on School Campus” Practice Exercises. As the city announcement noted “our Police and Fire Departments will be holding a simulated large-scale joint tactical exercise that will simulate an ‘active shooter’ on campus. This event is part of the Departments’ continued effort to prepare for emergencies and safeguard our City’s schools.”

But are these really good training exercises or are they really only opportunities to bring out the toys and play with them. (Full disclosure my son participated in one of these.) And don’t tell me how well prepared we are. The more we practice the better we get. Until of course one of those practice sessions turns out to have also been a practice session for the next active shooter.

What do you think? Should small towns and communities be arming themselves as if they were in the midst of a war zone?

Photo credit: http://news.kron4.com/news/video-not-everyone-thrilled-with-new-redwood-city-police-tank/