Angie Craig wants to make it easier for cops to get armored vehicles

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/05/15/angie-craig-wants-to-make-it-easier-for-cops-to-get-armored-vehicles-do-they-make-communities-safer/

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, Democrat of the 2nd Congressional District, has introduced legislation to make it easier for police departments to obtain armored, military-style vehicles.

The bill, which would roll back some of the Biden administration’s modest restrictions on armored vehicle acquisition, is a response to the fatal February shootings of three first responders in Burnsville. One armored vehicle was present at that standoff.

“Forty-one shots from a gunman’s rifle hit this vehicle as officers from Rosemount and Apple Valley tried to help their brothers,” Craig said in a floor speech on Wednesday. “We may have had even more injury and God forbid death that day, without this vehicle.”

But the death of three first responders despite the presence of an armored vehicle also underscores what the research shows about the effects of militarization on officer and community safety: Military-grade equipment doesn’t necessarily make officers or civilians safer, nor does it deter crime.