Good for Keene, NH

Thursday 16 February 2012 - Filed under Uncategorized

It gives me hope to see at least one town doing what they can to stave off unnecessary police militarization. Radley Balko at The Huffington Post:

“We’re going to have our own tank.”

That’s what Keene, N.H., Mayor Kendall Lane whispered to Councilman Mitch Greenwood during a December city council meeting.

It’s not quite a tank. But the quaint town of 23,000 — scene of just two murders since 1999 — had just accepted a $285,933 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase a Bearcat, an eight-ton armored personnel vehicle made by Lenco Industries Inc.

But those plans are on hold for now, thanks to a backlash from feisty residents. Resistance began with Mike Clark, a 27-year-old handyman. Clark, who said he’s had a couple encounters with Keene police and currently faces a charge of criminal mischief, read about the Homeland Security grant in the newspaper. “The police are already pretty brutal,” Clark said, claiming he was roughed up in both his encounters with local police. “The last thing they need is this big piece of military equipment to make them think they’re soldiers.”

[. . .]

More than 100 people packed a Feb. 9 meeting of a city council committee, nearly all to oppose equipping the police deaprtment [sic], with about 45 sworn officers, with a Bearcat. One speaker quoted in the Keene Sentinel was Roberta Mastrogiovanni, owner of a newsstand downtown. “It promotes violence,” Mastrogiovanni said. “We should promote more human interaction rather than militarize. I refuse to use money for something this unnecessary when so many people in our community are in need.”

When a town of just 23,000 that has had a paltry 2 murders in the last decade, and has never had a situation in which a SWAT unit might be warranted (armed robbery with standoff, hostage situation, etc) feels they need an armored personnel carrier equipped to protect themselves from IED attacks and other explosions, you know that there’s something not right with the current state of law enforcement and the role it plays in American life.

2012-02-16  »  madlibertarianguy