There was a bomb threat this morning, caused, I'd imagine, by some yahoo hopped up on bath salts and turpentine; evidently Waco SWAT was called in to sort it out. We discussed this after Mass and some of the church people thought that bringing in Waco SWAT was overkill. They felt that the local PD should have taken care of business on its home turf. I was inclined to agree, until one churchman closed the argument. This is what he said:
"Hillsboro PD ain't got a man that could detonate a bomb without killing every person in the county. And that's the honest truth."
No one appeared willing to argue with that.
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| What's with the APC? |
Notable exceptions notwithstanding, I'm against the ongoing militarization of our police. Who are they planning to fight? We have to wonder.
Have a blessed Sunday,
LSP
10 comments:
Your old chum Boris has just bought two second-hand water canon from the Germans. No one has seen water canon in England before. Someone must be expecting trouble. Could be a long hot summer in London this year.
Apparently range time is as hard to come by for the police as it is for church people...
There are rational limits to militarization. Having one (or two) bullet proof vehicle(s) for tactical operations makes sense from a safety perspective. Local agencies need to rely on themselves and that option can be life saving. Having 100 armored vehicles makes no sense at all.
There has been a lot of hype on this in the media. There are some departments which have gone overboard on this but for the greater part, I think that the application of available equipment has been ok when we are speaking of police and sheriffs.
The place that it's insane is when you have armored vehicles used by the Park Police, EPA, USDA, Social Security Administration and all of the federal alphabet agencies each having their own SWAT Teams. Why?
Well then, whoever said small town life was dull?
In my experience, small Texan towns acquire fancy vehicles purely for the sake of a having a snazzy Fourth of July parade. You should look for one on Friday. Lots of four year olds on decked out ponies mixed in with heavily armed young men. A fascinating experience every time.
(and if Hillsboro fails to represent, you now know an anonymous bomb threat could liven things up...)
Boris didn't do himself any favors by wearing a pink cowboy hat last year. Good luck with the canon.
You might be right, Brighid!
You might be right, Brighid!
I agree, LL. Why is the alphabet soup arming up. SSA SWAT? Really? Of course the EPA needs armor to beat back all those carbon emissions...
I agree, LL. Why is the alphabet soup arming up. SSA SWAT? Really? Of course the EPA needs armor to beat back all those carbon emissions...
It's all going on in the country, Jenny. I'll be in Dallas for the 4th, annoyingly, but I'll wager a fighting monkey your analysis is correct.
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