http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/police-surplus-armored-trucks-iraq-article-1.1527650Leftover armored trucks from Iraq coming to local police agencies
The Albany County sheriff’s office is among eight law-enforcement agencies in New York that have received the free mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, made for $500,000 apiece. Civil liberties advocates, meanwhile, see it as the increasing militarization of police forces.
The Associated Press
Sunday, November 24, 2013, 8:52 PM
QUEENSBURY, N.Y. — Coming soon to your local sheriff: 18-ton, armor-protected military fighting vehicles with gun turrets and bulletproof glass that were once the U.S. answer to roadside bombs during the Iraq war.
The hulking vehicles, built for about $500,000 each at the height of the war, are among the biggest pieces of equipment that the Defense Department is giving to law enforcement agencies under a national military surplus program.
For police and sheriff’s departments, which have scooped up 165 of the mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, or MRAPS, since they became available this summer, the price and the ability to deliver shock and awe while serving warrants or dealing with hostage standoffs was just too good to pass up.
“It’s armored. It’s heavy. It’s intimidating. And it’s free,” said Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, among five county sheriff’s departments and three other police agencies in New York that have taken delivery of an MRAP.
Warren County Undersheriff Shawn Lamouree in front the department's mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle on Nov. 13, in Queensbury, N.Y. Some of the vehicles are too large to travel on some roads and bridges.
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