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SEARCHThe St. Louis County Police Department has stocked up on tear gas, less-lethal ammunition and plastic handcuffs in anticipation of massive protests in the suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, if a grand jury doesn't indict the police officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. The jury is expected to reach its decision sometime in November.
The St. Louis County Police Department has stocked up on tear gas, less-lethal ammunition and plastic handcuffs in anticipation of massive protests in the suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, if a grand jury doesn't indict the police officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. The jury is expected to reach its decision sometime in November.
“It’s going to be a war because they’re not going to indict him,” one protester told The Huffington Post in October.
A breakdown of the $172,000 that the police department has spent since August on gear for dealing with protesters, first reported by Jon Swaine of The Guardian , shows that the St. Louis County police have purchased "650 teargas grenades, smoke-and-gas grenades, smoke canisters and 'hornets nest' CS sting grenades, which shoot out dozens of rubber bullets and a powdered chemical agent upon detonation," at a cost of nearly $25,000. Sgt. Brian Schellman, a spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department, provided a breakdown of the spending in an email to The Huffington Post.
The department has also spent $7,740 on 1,500 "sock rounds," or beanbag rounds, and $10,200 on 6,000 pepper balls rounds, which sting the eyes and nose. Roughly $77,000 went toward 235 helmets, 25 new batons and 60 pairs of shin guards. The county has purchased 2,000 plastic "flex" handcuffs, which cost just over a dollar each. In addition, the department has put aside $50,000 to repair damaged police vehicles, but that work won't begin "until unrest is over," according to the summary of the spending.
