Sign of things to come, the University of CA - Berkeley police dept. is purchasing an armored personnel carrier from DHS.

 The University of California - Berkeley Police Department (UCPD) has acquired a $200,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security to purchase an "Armored Response Counter Attack Truck," a police department spokesman told Campus Reform on Friday. 

The eight-ton vehicle, commonly referred to as a "Bearcat," is used by U.S. troops on the battlefield and is often equipped with a rotating roof hatch, powered turrets, gun ports, a battering ram, and a weapon system used to remotely engage a target with lethal force.

University of Virginia Professor Dewey Cornell, an expert in violence prevention and school safety, told Campus Reform on Friday that with approximately 4800 four-year colleges in the U.S., and an average of 10 homicides per year on college campuses, the average college can expect a homicide about once every 480 years.

“With all we hear we hear about the federal deficit it’s a shame there is money available for things like this but not for prevention,” said Cornell. “If a university has to resort to a Bearcat that means there is a failure somewhere else.”
Berkeley police will soon have an armored personnel carrier at the ready, despite concerns that the Lenco BearCat could be used to stifle free speech. The armored vehicle will be shared with U.C. Berkeley and the neighboring city of Albany. The Department of Homeland Security granted the three police departments $200,000 for its acquisition. Judith Scherr reports.
 
A June 19 log of a Berkeley City Council meeting, however, suggest that that UCPD also intends to use the vehicle for “large incidents” including university sporting events and an annual street festival called the Solana Stroll.

In other words “large incidents” means that they want it to project themselves as “looking tough” at sporting events and a street festival. California is bankrupt and they receive nearly a quarter million dollar grant from Homeland Security (by the way, that’s your money, not DHS’) for a playtoy.

Americans and Californians should be outraged at the militarization of police on this scale and especially during a recession, such as we are currently in.

Click the link below to listen to the audio recording of the Berkeley council meeting:  http://pacificaeveningnews.blogspot.com/2012/06/armored-personnel-carrier-for-uc.html

http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=3068

http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/07/armored-personnel-carrier-for-uc-berkeley-via-dhs/