Some local police departments begin giving up military-style vehicles amid unease [View all]

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/29/some-local-police-departments-begin-giving-up-military-style-vehicles-amid-unease/



Some local police departments begin giving up military-style vehicles amid unease
By Reuters
Friday, August 29, 2014 21:55 EDT
By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Two Northern California cities have made plans to rid themselves of armored vehicles built to withstand roadside bombs that their police got for free from the U.S. Defense Department, in a move that follows criticism of the police handling of protests in Missouri as too militarized.

Officials in San Jose and Davis took steps to jettison their so-called Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles this week.

Also in recent days, a sheriff in New Jersey said he would stop the acquisition of a similar vehicle, and two police departments in North Carolina announced plans to hold forums to hear concerns about law enforcement’s militarization.

Much of the controversy over the use of military equipment centers on the Pentagon’s excess property program, which gives unused equipment to police forces across the country. The program has come under scrutiny after protests over the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, where rifle-toting police in armored vehicles faced off against demonstrators in a response critics say helped fuel outrage.