Both the Mahoning Valley Task Force and Boardman Police Department, which both patrol northeast Ohio near Youngstown, recently obtained the surplus military vehicles, according to WFMJ in Ohio.
“This would be the ideal thing. I mean we can usually fit, for example, 25 to 39 school children in the back of it if they ever had to be removed from a school under those type of situations,” Jack Nichols, Boardman’s Chief of Police, told WFMJ.
The transfer of wartime weapons to police departments across the United States is a growing trend with the near 15-year war in the Middle East coming to a slow end.
The equipment is also playing a vital role in local police work, like during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The BearCat, a tactical armored vehicle developed by Lenco Industries, was used during the search for the suspects in Watertown, Mass., keeping law enforcement officers safe during an incredibly dangerous situation.
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- Local Law Enforcement Agencies Obtaining Wartime Equipment
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- Redwood City Police Add Military MRAP to Fleet
- Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Receives MRAP Via Military Surplus Program
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