Preston Police Chief Ken Geddes stands beside the Mine Resistance Ambush Protected Personnel Carrier the department acquired from the U.S. Army. (Submitted photo)
Preston Police Chief Ken Geddes stands beside the Mine Resistance Ambush Protected Personnel Carrier the department acquired from the U.S. Army. (Submitted photo)
PRESTON — The Preston Police Department acquired a Mine Resistance Ambush Protected Personnel Carrier (MRAP) from the United States Army within the past week. The military has chosen to make equipment available to law enforcement agencies to increase domestic security in our country.
MRAP’s are armored fighting vehicles are designed for the purpose of surviving attacks and ambushes, including mines explosions.
Preston Police department applied for the vehicle in early spring of this year. The Preston City Council considered the proposal and possible benefits to our city and the surrounding communities and approved the acquisition. The vehicle comes at no cost to Preston City. It is a 2007 model with very low mileage.
“What are we going to do with that?” is a lot of people’s first comment. Others might say, “Are things that bad in Preston that we need that?” I hope not, too. It is not manufactured with our needs in mind, but I am so grateful to have it to protect our officers and people in our area. The military is dispersing equipment while it is still functional rather than putting it in mothballs and never to be used again.
Preparing for and increasing our capabilities doesn’t make bad things happen.
The taxpayers already paid for the vehicle. We did not have to buy it again. Times have changed. Too many communities have had to say, “I didn’t think that would happen here.”
This MRAP will be made available, too, for use not only here in Preston, but in neighboring counties, as well as the Logan and Cache county area. It will be an asset to the regional SWAT teams that serves our community.
In any situation where there is a threat of gun violence this vehicle may be used. Our department has officers that have been trained and have personally used these armored vehicles in real world operations overseas. They feel this vehicle will be an asset in our area just as it was in combat situations.
We are very thankful for this added resource this MRAP brings. It increases officer and public’s safety as we arrive at a high threat incident. Officers will still have to get out of the vehicle into danger to manage the threat. The vehicle is expected to be used as a response vehicle for special teams. It can be used for rescue and evacuation of public from threatening environments. I appreciate our government and our military for the security they give us and for their help to increase our strength here in our schools and at home.
Gone are the days when law enforcement's motto was "To Protect and Serve". Now what you hear as the most important thing for law enforcement is "they go home safe at the end of the day".
The War on Drugs has evolved into an Us or Them attitude for law enforcement. Any and all tools that they can obtain will be used to show civilians that they are in charge and not to be challenged.
We will see more of these vehicles and other surplus military equipment deployed as the police state continues to grow.
Yeah, this will come in handy, so would an abrams tank, maybe they should get one. Totally not seeming like a police state here. I am so proud we can give our police the tools they want, where are the gas chambers going in?
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Gone are the days when law enforcement's motto was "To Protect and Serve". Now what you hear as the most important thing for law enforcement is "they go home safe at the end of the day".
The War on Drugs has evolved into an Us or Them attitude for law enforcement. Any and all tools that they can obtain will be used to show civilians that they are in charge and not to be challenged.
We will see more of these vehicles and other surplus military equipment deployed as the police state continues to grow.
Total waste of the money. In tight times they shouldn't be wasting local tax money on something like this.
Yeah, this will come in handy, so would an abrams tank, maybe they should get one. Totally not seeming like a police state here. I am so proud we can give our police the tools they want, where are the gas chambers going in?
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The Idaho State Journal invites you to take part in the community conversation. But those who don't play nice may be uninvited. Don't post comments that are off topic, defamatory, libelous, obscene, racist, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. We may remove any comment for any reason or no reason. We encourage you to report abuse, but the decision to delete is ours. Commenters have no expectation of privacy and may be held accountable for their comments. Comments are opinions of the author only, and do not reflect the opinions or views of Idaho State Journal.