Photo: San Diego Unified School District
The U.S. military took it into the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, but now this mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, more commonly called an MRAP, ended up in the garage of Morse High School. Did any has started in San Diego? No, the school district got the MRAP for free as part of the Government’s larger program through which unneeded military equipment, like weapons and body armor, go to local police forces.
Being a student at one of San Diego Unified School District schools has recently become a lot more safer, due to the new tank it got for free. Well, it’s not really a tank, we know, it actually is a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle. You know, the the type of machine capable of withstanding improvised explosive devices and smashing through barricades. Why does any school in U.S. need that type of military vehicle?
Joe Florentino, a captain with the department claims the district intends to deploy the MRAP solely as a rescue vehicle. “When we have an emergency at a school, we’ve got to get in and save kids,” Florentino told the source, a media partner of KPBS.
“Our idea is: How can we get in and pull out a classroom at a time of kids if there’s an active shooter? If there’s a fire [or] if there’s an earthquake, can we rip down a wall? Stuff like that,” he said.
Well, according to KPBS, the school district got the MRAP for free as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program. What, you never heard about this program? What if we’d name it 1033 Program, as it is most commonly known. Still nothing? Let us expand.
It is authorized under federal law and managed through the Defense Logistics Agency’s Law Enforcement Support Office. The 1033 Program provides surplus DoD military equipment to state and local civilian law enforcement agencies for use in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations, and to enhance officer safety.
A small sample of the types of items issued in the past to participating agencies are aircraft and four-wheel drive vehicles (such as pickup trucks, blazers, ambulances and armored personnel carriers).
If you don’t believe us, just check the Public Safety website.
Anyway, considering all the controversy raised around the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, this news suddenly sounds like bad news. Just a short reminder, in the days that followed the horrible killing, television audiences were shocked by scenes of local police forces decked out in military equipment facing down peaceful protesters. Problem is, most of that equipment was actually provided through the same 1033 Program.
So, do you feel safe?
Joe Florentino, a captain with the department claims the district intends to deploy the MRAP solely as a rescue vehicle. “When we have an emergency at a school, we’ve got to get in and save kids,” Florentino told the source, a media partner of KPBS.
“Our idea is: How can we get in and pull out a classroom at a time of kids if there’s an active shooter? If there’s a fire [or] if there’s an earthquake, can we rip down a wall? Stuff like that,” he said.
Well, according to KPBS, the school district got the MRAP for free as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program. What, you never heard about this program? What if we’d name it 1033 Program, as it is most commonly known. Still nothing? Let us expand.
It is authorized under federal law and managed through the Defense Logistics Agency’s Law Enforcement Support Office. The 1033 Program provides surplus DoD military equipment to state and local civilian law enforcement agencies for use in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations, and to enhance officer safety.
A small sample of the types of items issued in the past to participating agencies are aircraft and four-wheel drive vehicles (such as pickup trucks, blazers, ambulances and armored personnel carriers).
If you don’t believe us, just check the Public Safety website.
Anyway, considering all the controversy raised around the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, this news suddenly sounds like bad news. Just a short reminder, in the days that followed the horrible killing, television audiences were shocked by scenes of local police forces decked out in military equipment facing down peaceful protesters. Problem is, most of that equipment was actually provided through the same 1033 Program.
So, do you feel safe?
Google News