I was at a gas station today in said dinky county and happen to glance at the newspaper sitting on the counter.
This is what I saw.
The Rockdale Citizen
Rockdale County is an outlying county from the actual "Big City". People like to live out there to have the country life while working in the city where you can still get a job.
It's pretty rural; it still has "D.A.R.E. Country" signs up at different places (That alone tells you the collective IQ is only in the double-digits), reefer mad as the day is long and as oppressive as one might imagine from the many years of Georgia stereotypes. Backwards is not an inappropriate descriptor.
Now, one CAN sorta see their point: Imagine how their precious ultracool Extremely Important SWAT team felt having to show up in some wimpy transport van. Who's going to be impressed with that?
No. A real SWAT team needs a $300000 glorified Ford on steroids..
On Friday, the new $287,000 BearCat armored vehicle was delivered to the Sheriff’s Office. The SWAT vehicle was purchased late last year from savings RCSO realized through unfilled positions and fewer inmate meals served than were budgeted. It will replace the 1989 Dodge conversion van that the SWAT team had been using when responding to scenes requiring specialized response.
In the second sentence of the second paragraph is what REALLY got my attention: they were able to PAY the $287000 for this monstrosity, in part, by shorting their staff on help and shorting their prisoners on food.
And they are bragging about it in print.
More nonsense: Ol Boss Hawg said that the ole SWAT van did
not represent a 21st century law enforcement agency, like the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, and more importantly, it does not represent the caliber of our SWAT team,” said RCSO Chief Deputy Scott Freeman, pointing out the deficiencies in the old van, including, but not limited to, a sliding door that does not always work and front seats that are not secured to the floor.
Like I said, they felt like goobers showing up in a basic van, and then wrestling with the sliding door (Just shoot it, guys...). People probably snickered.
These guys are fucking idiots.
They have nothing to do - but steroids, it seems - and here they are BLOWING hundreds of thousands of dollars on a goddamned toy that will be filled with dangerous yahoos dressed in military clothes and armed to the goddamned teeth with assault weapons....in dinky town.
Now you;re wondering: why did they blow all that money when they could have had an MRAP, which is pretty much the same thing but could be acquired for free or peanuts?
Boss Hawg is glad you asked and is proud to tell you:
The sheriff said that he considered acquiring a military surplus vehicle, such as the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP, especially after some citizens suggested that as an option, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
##“I decided not to get a war-ready vehicle. We are not militarizing the RCSO, but we are giving our SWAT members the tools they need,” Levett said.
Yeah.
Right.
Not militarizing their police force at all.
Dumbass.