S.C. Sheriff's Department Armored Vehicle with Belt-Fed Machine Gun

hoovis @ 9/1/2008 3:09 AM

I'm not a member of law enforcement, but a gun enthusiast who frequently checks out the site for its firearms related content (which I think is very good). Anyway, I felt compelled to comment on this article, simply because I don't see any good reason why a police department servicing civilians needs to have an APC in its arsenal. I can really seen no legitimate use for such hardware that wouldn't warrant a call to the National Guard. In what situation would a county police department need to use an APC (complete with a .50 cal machine gun)? For those concerned about the militarization of civilian police forces and the bad things that happen as a result of the use of excess force during (what should be) routine police work, this is disturbing. Thanks - Burt Hoovis

allanonmage @ 12/5/2011 1:48 PM

There is no reason for a Police department to have an M2 machine gun. If there is that much firepower needed the cops need to call in the military, probably the USMC!! .50 cal isn't meant for use against people, its meant for use against vehicles.