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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2016)
20 Wednesday, June 8, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist The myth of militarization Dramatic video of civil unrest incidents in the past few years or police tacti- cal team deployments have once again raised the ugly, and ill-informed, boogey- man specter of the “milita- rized police.” Critics cite the use of armored rescue vehicles — which they almost inevita- bly and absurdly describe as tanks, the acquisition of military surplus items such as grenade launchers, or MRAP vehicles (an armored anti-mine personnel carrier), or the individual weapons carried by police on their person. Critics often cite the de- ployment of this equipment for “escalating” situations, and then bestow upon us all their judgment and exper- tise in handling large-scale civil unrest, or high-risk incidents. Unfortunately, they usually don’t have any expertise at all, and do a very bad job of explaining how the presence of res- cue vehicles or body armor causes people to burn down buildings or loot businesses. These same critics often mix their complaints about such equipment with a dose of conspiracy theory — no- tions that the police are conspiring with various federal agencies, even the U.S. Army, to impose mar- tial law. Generally, they ask their fellow citizens to be- lieve that the cops are out to round up their grandmoth- ers, steal their food cache, confiscate their weapons, and put everyone in intern- ment camps. Sprinkle in some para- noia, issues with authority, and an abject failure to un- derstand even basic civics, the law as it relates to crowd control and most certainly the realities of modern po- licing, and you have a per- fect concoction of bunk. Armored rescue vehicles aren’t tanks. They don’t have cannons or machine guns. They simply are not a weapons system of any kind. They are equipped with ar- mored portholes, and an ar- mored turret, which can be occupied by officers carry- ing weapons. They CAN be outfitted with gas rams, used to inject gas into the walls of a barricaded house (usually too expensive an item for all but the largest tactical teams), but they are decid- edly not up-gunned tanks. They are essentially large armored cars, not much dif- ferent than those used by banks, to safely transport money, and their purpose is to protect officers, and civil- ians, from gunfire or other life-threatening hazards in critical-incident scenarios. Armored rescue vehicles are an important piece in the suite of capabilities avail- able to police, so that they might safely conduct busi- ness, and they have proven themselves out numerous times. In Tyler, Texas, for ex- ample, when a subject fired 35 rounds from an AK-47 at the cops, or in Wisconsin, when a barricaded subject was sniping at officers from his well-fortified house, or in Colorado, when Aurora police were able to res- cue 108 motorists strand- ed in 20 inches of snow and arctic conditions, or in Bakersfield, California, when a subject opened fire in a neighborhood and BPD was able to safely evacuate 60 innocents from the line of fire. I could go on citing these examples all day, but the point is that in modern polic- ing, which many folks know precious little about even ANXIETY? We can help you! Julia l Wieland-Smith l d S h L.Ac., A LMT T Greg Wieland L.Ac. C Specializing In: Window & Screen Cleaning Home & Rental Cleaning CALL FOR YOUR FREE ESTIMATE! JEFF BLAKE • 541-549-0897 I NSURED , L ICENSED & B ONDED Smile, Sisters! We’re committed to your dental health! Exceptional Health, Prevention & Aesthetics Ben Crockett, D.D.S. p 541-549-9486 f 541-549-9110 410 E. 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I want my cops out of their cars, confronting criminals, and I want them to have the best possible equipment and training to do the job with, so that the good guys and gals behind the badge get to go home at the end of each and every shift. They matter more to me than some guy breaking into houses, smoking meth, shooting up his neighbor- hood, beating his wife, or driving drunk on my high- ways. Maybe you think that, too. Offering Aveda ™ Skin & Body Care! Sisters Acupuncture 541-549-1523 NING SE RV ICE A E L S as they shout to the world how cops should be doing their jobs, armored rescue vehicles are as important as good judgment, good train- ing, less-lethal technologies, good radios, and individual body armor. The critics cite “grenade launchers” in the inventory of police tactical teams, and the hand-wringing, eyebrow-shaving, and para- noia needles swing wildly into the red. 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