San Diego School District's New 18-Ton Armored Vehicle Creates Stir

[jimmy olsen]

Looks like they're just giving this shit away to anyone.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/09/13/348242448/san-diego-school-district-s-new-15-ton-armored-vehicle-creates-stir

San Diego School District's New 18-Ton Armored Vehicle Creates Stir

by Bill Chappell
September 13, 2014 4:36 PM ET

News that San Diego Unified School District has acquired an MRAP, or mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, is adding a new facet to discussions about the practice of giving surplus military equipment to civilian agencies.

The six-wheel Caiman MRAP has an official value of around $733,000. But the San Diego school district paid only about $5,000 to transport it, according to inewsorce.org, a website that partners with NPR member station KPBS.

As inewsource's Joe Yerardi reported:

    "The school district got the MRAP for free as part of the U.S. Department of Defense's Excess Property Program. The program, commonly referred to as the 1033 Program, sends unneeded military equipment like weapons and body armor to local police forces for no cost."

The program was in the news recently for its role providing law enforcement agencies with heavy armored equipment like that rolled out by police in Ferguson, Mo., to confront demonstrators.

A day after the San Diego story came out, school board trustee Scott Barnett called the move a "misguided priority," saying the vehicle should be leased to police agencies. Barnett suggested the funds from a long-term lease could pay for new police cars. And he said the school board hadn't been notified about the acquisition.

The day before Barnett addressed the issue, San Diego Unified School District Police Chief Ruben Littlejohn held a news conference to say the MRAP isn't a tank, which early reports had compared it to. He also said it's not a sign of new militarization in schools.

"There will be medical supplies in the vehicle. There will be teddy bears in the vehicle," Littlejohn said. "There will be trauma kits in the vehicle in the event any student is injured, and our officers are trained to give first aid and CPR.

The school district has released two renderings of what the MRAP might look like after its tan military color is painted over. In one version, it's police blue; another depicts it as more of an ambulance, white with a red cross.

From KPBS:

    "The district plans to store $20,000 to $30,000 worth of medical supplies donated by partners in the medical industry in the vehicle. The MRAP arrived in April, and students at Morse High School's Auto Collision and Refinishing Program got to work painting it."

On the KPBS website, a reader questioned the message sent by the school district police with the vehicle.

"They can call it a 'love buggy,' a 'student patrol limo,' or a 'campus police fun bus' and then paint it pretty colors," a reader wrote, "but that doesn't change the fact it's a piece of military equipment that is unnecessary and sends the message that local officials are at war with students."

Today, San Diego resident Andy Hinds writes about the MRAP in an article for The Daily Beast that asks the question Why Does My Kids' Elementary School Need a Tank?

Saying that his daughters just started kindergarten in the school district, Hinds says his only complaints about their school had been that the playground needed more shade trees, and perhaps the school could do with another teacher.

"One thing I didn't realize we needed is a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP)," Hinds writes. "But our school district now has one. Ours is the Caiman model, a 6x6 behemoth that weighs in at over 15 tons and makes Humvees shrivel up with feelings of inadequacy."

Hinds goes on to say that perhaps the vehicle was irresistible to school police officials who were taken with its price – nothing – and its promise of capability.

He writes:

"Despite the very long odds that this acquisition will ever be used, and the sometimes-clumsy way the surprise rollout has been handled, I appreciate the district trying to take advantage of programs that will bring assets to our schools on the cheap."

Speaking to inewsource earlier this week, San Diego Unified School District Police Capt. Joe Florentino said he understood the reaction to the vehicle's military heritage. But he said the department wants the Caiman as a way to cope with extreme situations, such as an active shooter on campus, or a fire or earthquake.

"I can totally see people thinking 'Oh, my God. Are they going to be rolling armored vehicles into our schools and what the hell's going on?'," Florentino said. "Hopefully, we'll never have to use it for the real deal."

San Diego isn't the only place where an MRAP is being placed into an educational setting. Last autumn, Ohio State University acquired its own MRAP, complete with armored siding and bulletproof glass, as the StateImpact project reported. School officials said they'd likely use it on football game days — but that before that happened, they would remove the vehicle's gun turrets.

And in Davis, Calif., the city council has ordered the police chief to get rid of an MRAP vehicle, with Mayor Dan Wolk telling The New York Times, "This thing has a turret — it's the kind of thing that is used in Afghanistan and Iraq."

[DGuller]

They must have some rough schools over there.

[Admiral Yi]

How many of these MRAPs did the Pentagon order, to be giving them out like candy now?

[Berkut]

A very large number in both Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a tens if billions of dollars contract.

[Admiral Yi]

And they're totally useless to the military now?

[Syt]

Looks like they're just giving this shit away to anyone.

But if it saves only one child ....

[Berkut]

Quick wiki reference says about $50 billion for some 12,000 vehicles

[Razgovory]

The idea that using old military surplus gear is somehow indicating that they are at war with the public is simply ludicrous.  They use old sea planes for fire fighting, reconciles rifles for preventing dangerous snow build up at ski lodges, and military radios and old helicopters everywhere.  If there is criticism to be had, it's whether this equipment is cost effective.  An armored truck has got to cost more to maintain then an ordinary one.

[Tonitrus]

And they're totally useless to the military now?

Probably figured we weren't going back to IED-prone places like Iraq/Afghanistan, and don't want to maintain them.

[Zanza]

So, when does the first rural police department in the US get its own jet fighter? I am sure there must be some surplus jet fighters as well.

[DontSayBanana]

"There will be medical supplies in the vehicle. There will be teddy bears in the vehicle," Littlejohn said. "There will be trauma kits in the vehicle in the event any student is injured, and our officers are trained to give first aid and CPR.

So what if we got a tank?  It's not militarization- see?  It's got fuzzy dice!"

[Darth Wagtaros]

Even if they don't cost much to aquire how much do these things cost to maintain? Or even just burn through a tank of gas?

[grumbler]

Even if they don't cost much to aquire how much do these things cost to maintain? Or even just burn through a tank of gas?

Enough that the Army doesn't want to keep them.

[CountDeMoney]

One would think that, as much bad press as the militarization of the police is getting, that more people would be outraged at this waste of taxpayers' money.

Hell, we'd get more mileage out of it all if we simply donated them to our favorite dictators;  at least they'd be used to suppress somebody else's pipples instead of our own. 
I'm sure there are allies with real needs regarding military hardware out there that could appreciate this shit, like the Philippines or Columbia.

[grumbler]

One would think that, as much bad press as the militarization of the police is getting, that more people would be outraged at this waste of taxpayers' money.

Hell, we'd get more mileage out of it all if we simply donated them to our favorite dictators;  at least they'd be used to suppress somebody else's pipples instead of our own. 
I'm sure there are allies with real needs regarding military hardware out there that could appreciate this shit, like the Philippines or Columbia.

Didn't you read the article?  Transportation costs amount to more than $5,000 per vehicle.  No way the PI or Colombia can afford more than a couple of these, at those prices.