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Friday, September 26, 2014
DHS Gravy Train Splatters On Bozeman
It's pawned off as a "Rescue" vehicle, which is not what the Bozeman Police do. Search and rescue is a volunteer, county coordinated function.
When the federal government reaches around elected representatives of the local government, handing out favors and arming the local police for assaults, America, we have a problem. That's what has come down in here in Bozeman, Montana, population 38,695. It's pawned off as a "Rescue" vehicle, which is not what the Bozeman Police do
When Mayor Jeff Krauss logged onto Facebook on Friday night, he was surprised to learn the city owned a new armored rescue vehicle.“It was a vehicle we never discussed. No one told me we needed this,” Krauss said. “It raised a lot of questions for me.” The vehicle, a Lenco BearCat G3, was fully paid for by a grant through the Homeland Security Grant Program.
Lenco trucks can be used in a variety of missions. The BearCat, our best selling truck, may be used as a S.W.A.T. or Military Counter Attack and Rescue Vehicle and is often used in hostile Urban Environments or as a Patrol/Reaction Vehicle on a Military Base. The BearCat, with its standard NIJ IV armor and 4WD system, can carry up to 10 people through varying terrain. The BearCat has been embraced by several DoD and DoE Security Forces and, because of its affordability, low maintenance expenses, ease of use and superior armor level, is increasingly the replacement vehicle of choice for up-armored Humvees. It may also be equipped with our optional Mechanical Rotating Turret with Cupola (Tub) and Weapon Ready Mounting System, suitable for the M60, 240B and Mark 19 weapons system.
We got the version with the turret baby, the better to shoot all comers with.
Commissioner Chris Mehl was on a police ride-along one night when he caught a glimpse of the vehicle parked at the Law and Justice Center.
Mehl admits he thought it was odd when he saw it, but he has talked with police and is convinced it’s something the city needs.
“I hope that we never use this, but it was free,” Mehl said.Krauss isn’t convinced.
He said adding the “urban assault vehicle” to the police department’s fleet seems like an escalation of police activity.
“I’m not convinced that we need this. It had never been identified as a need in my 11 years here,” Krauss said.
It's Free! You have to be kidding me -- our spendthrift debt addicted country is paying for this, meaning the assault toy is being financed squarely by my children. Mehl claims to be an economist. In reality he is a liberal Democrat -- in his perverted world something is free when my children pay for it. The gifting of the assault vehicle generated a torrent of on-line criticism -- including the following.
We need to make a clear statement here in Bozeman, do not turn our police department into an army. So this thing was hidden from the city government, that alone is reason to get rid of it, and take action against those paid city servants who did this.
It seems that these vehicles are only being given to Police Departments who have no constitutional legitimacy and not to Sheriffs departments that have to be concerned about elections.
Likewise they are not "FREE", we pay federal taxes and those tax dollars bought these things. Aren't there a lot of more practical uses for tax dollars and even if not they should not be spent on these things for every PD in the country unless the taxpayers approve. I for one want my money back.
Look at your Bozeman taxes and you can see more of the "free" money that Chris Mehl gets to spend. No wonder the federal deficit can't be controlled. Too many big shot wanna-bes like Mehl spending free federal money. I liked him better when he was just wish-washy on all decisions.−
Of course we need it... whom else is going to drive around and strike fear in the hearts of the absolutely dangerous terrorist that live in little old Bozeman, MT. Federal Government is absolutely ridiculous and any local government, especially Bozeman, should be absolutely ashamed to accept something like this.... just a local voter and concerned citizen speaking here. Oh and Vet.
If this is a regional asset "rescue" vehicle, how will this help find the missing hunter in the Crazy Mountains? Please don't lie to our faces about the use of this vehicle. You might as well call it the "unicorn/bigfoot population observation vehicle".
Commissioner Chris Mehl says, "it didn't cost us anything". With all due respect It does costs us whether it be federal tax dollars of local tax dollars it does cost us.
If this vehicle is necessary to the function of our law enforcement, why was its acquisition so clandestine? Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it? It only adds fuel to the distrust that many already have of law enforcement.
This should have been an open transaction.
There are so many things that are fundamentally wrong with this new "free" acquisition of the Bear Cat; first and foremost, we all know that in life, nothing is actually free and the repercussions of this type of vehicle on our social fabric might
be too complicated to name them all; our civil servants somehow thought to put
the wool over our eyes on this one and that is just scary. I was in favor of
the new law and justice center until I read this article. If we put half as
much effort in building a just and cohesive community, we wouldn't need this
armored vehicle in the first place.
Let's sell it and build a new community center with a pool, etc. - a place where community ties are built in a positive manner, where conversations can go somewhere for the betterment of all of us.
I can’t support a police force that thinks it needs an armored vehicle to protect and serve.
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Here is the manufacturer's promo video -- see how the armored assault unit is used to deploy troops, provide cover for lines of snipers, break into homes and infiltrate gas. Defensive, huh?
Way these things go is City of Bozeman will probably have to send a person or two across the country for week-long service training every year or two. You can bet on spending thousands to tens of thousands for many spare or replacement parts.
The Lenco BearCat®
And the maintenance costs are?
ReplyDeleteWay these things go is City of Bozeman will probably have to send a person or two across the country for week-long service training every year or two. You can bet on spending thousands to tens of thousands for many spare or replacement parts.
DeleteThe servicing and part information is password protected.
Deletehttp://www.lencoarmor.com/parts-accessories/
Sweet.