![]() The ACLU has written a report claiming "American policing has become unnecessarily and dangerously militarized. Mary Catherine Roper, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia, challenges the need for local governments to be armed like the military. Riders couldn't pay with credit/debit cards Police Chief Robert Scafidi admits it's difficult to make the case that New Britain needs a vehicle able to withstand a high-powered explosion, but "I think on a regional basis you have to share and you have to have assets." Taxpayers had to pony up $6,000 in shipping fees to get the vehicle. In New Britain Township, Bucks County, which has a population of 11,000 according to the 2010 census, the police force now maintains a mine-resistant vehicle worth $733,000 according to the government. It's all military grade gear made for the battlefield. The bulk is general equipment such as binoculars, accessories for weapons, computers, sleeping bags and power tools, amassed between January of 2011 and June of this year. Of that, 1,972 items are classified as tactical equipment - tanks, ambulances, mine-resistant vehicles, night goggles and automatic weapons - acquired between December of 1994 and July 2, 2014. We found local police departments armed with equipment including tanks, mine-resistant vehicles, and automatic weapons.Ī review of data obtained by NBC10's Mitch Blacher shows the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has received close to 34,000 pieces of surplus military equipment from the DoD since 2012. The NBC10 Investigators found weapons of war in the hands of police departments across the Delaware Valley as local governments take advantage of a free Department of Defense program to unload more than $5 billion worth of surplus military equipment.
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