Thread: Tanks roll through Texas

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  Tanks roll through Texas
  
  In the wake of terrorist attacks and thanks to a blank check from the Department of Homeland Security, armored vehicles are the new norm and are on the rise in Texas.

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• 45 Texas counties are geared up with huge war wagons
• Photos: Live Oak and Boerne police have armored vehicles
• Senator wants review of police gear program

Police militarization comes to Texas

BY JOSH BAUGH : SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 : Updated: September 8, 2014 2:01pm

• Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News
  City of Live Oak Police Chief Ken Evans looks at the police department's military surplus MRAP which will be part of Alamo Area Metro SWAT. The vehicle is currently waiting on parts for a repair in the city's garage. Friday, Aug. 5, 2014.
  

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RELATED STORIES

• Senator wants review of police gear program
• Texas MRAPs

SAN ANTONIO — In the tiny town of Live Oak — a 4.8-square-mile bedroom community past San Antonio's city limits on the Northeast Side — resides the only military-surplus Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle in Bexar County.

No, the cops there aren't readying for battle against insurgents planting roadside bombs. The agency is one of more than 70 in Texas that has gotten an MRAP through the federal government's 1033 Program, which distributes surplus military gear to local law-enforcement agencies across the country.

In the wake of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, the military-grade armored vehicles have come to symbolize the militarization of police departments. But police chiefs in the Bexar County area make a compelling argument that such vehicles are important to protect both officers and civilians in certain types of tactical situations. The general consensus here is that MRAPs and other armored vehicles wouldn't be deployed in instances of public demonstrations, as they were used in Ferguson.

But the 1033 Program faces federal review, nonetheless.

Read the full story at www.expressnews.com or in the Monday edition of the newspaper.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...as-5741580.php

Yep, my county has one. Have'nt seen it yet, but with our sheriff it is only a matter of time. Surprised after having it for months it hasn't been toyed with. Maybe he is trying to indicate that with him in charge we have a peaceful county? If that was true, why did he apply for one? MMMMmmmm, confusing isn't it?

If ISIS ever really shows up in Mexico

it might be nice to have some heavy duty SWAT vehicles in Texas.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/law-enforce...border-310321/

• Military vehicles put to new use back in U.S.
  
  
  
• Cash-strapped agencies laud feds' military gear

They aren't "TANKS".

They have no weapons.

They are armored vehicles.

The vehicle is unarmed -- its gun turret has been removed -- but the reinforced steel doors and pressurized cab offer protection not afforded by a patrol car.

http://www.alipac.us/f9/military-veh...ck-u-s-295900/