Militarization of our Local Police

An MRAP for the local Police

Utah County, my home, just received an MRAP, a mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle—an armored car that carries people. The Obama administration is “giving” these vehicles, which normally cost $380,000, to local police departments for the $18,000 shipping costs.  Conservatives across the country are up in arms over this, viewing it as a tyrannical administration buying local police with favors and setting them up to come against their own citizens. There is great concern as we see little safety in federal government today

Our county had a group confrontation with the county sheriff, Jim Tracy, about this matter last week. Some attendees were openly hostile and confrontational—behavior one would expect from those who fear they are being backed into a corner.

I share their concern. With what we have seen from the progressive left, there are few illusions about the future intentions of federal authorities. Every day there is news of another assault on our rights. One concern is the turning of local police forces into military units who operate under political agendas. Our own protectors may one day turn on us.  Should that happen, a vehicle such as the MRAP would give local law-enforcement-gone-rogue an ugly advantage over innocent citizens.

The sheriff presented his case well. He offered the argument that it isn’t what the vehicle is but what you do with it that matters. (The vehicle has had the machine guns removed, but they can be remounted, probably easily.) He says this is equipment to be used for defense, rather than offense. We’ve all heard the argument for the Second Amendment: guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Remember the story about the guy who put his shotgun on his porch all day, and by nightfall the gun hadn’t killed a single person? That same argument exists for the MRAP. The vehicle, itself, isn’t bad, it’s what it’s used for. It was ironic, at our meeting, to see those who normally argue for the Second Amendment now objecting to this vehicle because it is a killing machine.

The sheriff says he needs the vehicle to protect his men; that violence is escalating in previously calm Utah County, which now sports 14,000 people a year booked into the county jail, 23 of which were for homicide. The county paper, the Daily Herald, routinely carries news of violent crimes. I see Sheriff Tracy’s point: he wants to protect his men. That point was driven home by the murder of one deputy, Cory Wride, a few months ago and the serious wounding of another, although the MRAP would not have been in use in either in the routine situations each was involved in at the time.

I trust Jim Tracy to use that vehicle appropriately. Several problems are worrisome, however, one of which is that Jim Tracy won’t always be the sheriff. How do we know those that follow him will be as honest? For that matter, how do we know Jim will remain trustworthy?

Secondly, the great temptation would be to use it because we have it. The old adage applies about the carpenter, whose only tool is a hammer, therefore, to him everything looks like a nail. There’s a concern about the gradual drift to justify use of the vehicle that’s a part of human nature. It’s a new toy, and the temptation to invent uses for it could get out of hand.

In the end, the matter comes down to the same two points most freedom issues come down to. First, we must have moral people—people who know right from wrong and follow what’s right—in office.

Second, we must, as citizens, become involved in the political process and watch what our elected officials do. We must support and compliment them when they do what’s right. When they err, we must teach them. If they won’t learn and correct, we must throw them out of office. There is no substitute for involved, watchful citizens. That’s our part of the governing process.

Stay tuned to the ongoing drama of the MRAP, both locally and nationwide.