Another story I saw at Raw Story which got me checking around for videos, which, in turn, educated me to the fact that this is occurring at a variety of police departments, mainly around the south and southwest.
Over the orange tactical field display.
Dallas County Police to execute warrants in 15-ton-vehicle capable of withstanding ‘nuclear environment’
Earlier this month, Dallas County sheriff’s deputies drove to Fort Hood to pick up their department’s new purchase: a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored personnel carrier.
The particular MRAP purchased by the Dallas County sheriff’s office has never been deployed in an actual combat zone, but in a memo deputies claimed that it “exceeded expectations.”
The MRAP “appears to be in good shape” and “runs good,” and is “[b]est described as a Dump Truck with a personnel carrier body.” It will be used, according to the memo, to “provide warrants execution” and assist in “provid[ing] an overall safety arch.”
The Dallas County deputies didn’t indicate in the memo why their department required a vehicle designed to withstand “ballistic arms fire, mine fields, IED’s, and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical environments” in order to execute warrants.
Here is a story on one of these stupid things from Tennessee:
The ridiculousness of this cannot be overstated. I would call it a milestone in the general distance police agencies have departed from reality. This leaving of reality has, of course, been largely started by, supported and encouraged by the "War on Drugs" and then shot full of steroids by the war on terror, twin sibling of the WOD.
I find this to be of Pythonesque hilarity.
Recall the Trojan Rabbit:
The plan is for the enemy to take the Trojan rabbit into the castle and our valiant knights will wait until nightfall to leap out and take the enemy by surprise.
With the concept of the MRAP to 'serve warrants', the valiant police would drive up to the dangerous destination totally protected from anything the bad guys would have to throw at them.
Until...um.... they....err.... get out to actually serve the warrant. Perhaps, as these massive vehicles carry a price tag of $640000, they have one of those extention grabber tool things that can stick out of the MRAP and actually deliver the warrant to the bad guy (s).
They are out of their minds.