I hope this doesn’t come off as an insult. But I see this post about military grade things all the time and I think people are looking at it wrong. I could name to you everything a normal patrol cop has right now and the reason for it. None of it is crazy or outlandish. Rifles and outer body armor are not crazy when active shooters are on the loose. Swat takes a while and things happen fast. But then that brings us to armored vehicles. Yes departments have them and yes they are deployed. In my state they are deployed at bomb calls and active shooter calls to protect citizens. A Ford Explorer is not going to stop anything. And before someone says how often do bomb calls happen? Well this state is second most in the country and you can’t take those calls lightly. If it saves one persons life I would say that’s a success.

If I get downvoted for saying this, so be it. I’d rather have a productive conversation about the actual needs vs what people believe the needs are.