So I was driving home today when I saw what at first looked like a tank to me just randomly parked on the side of the road. As I drove past it I saw that it was a heavily armored vehicle complete with a little turret thing on top (minus the gun). There was what looked like a police SUV (some maroon ford excursion or what have you) with a dude in a suit sitting in the front seat muggin me super hard as i drove past and looked at him. Needless to say I went back to see if it was there after i got some gas (cause i was about to run out) and one lane was blocked by a large flatbed semi that was backed up in front of the armored car. Another thing about this that intrigued me was that the two guys who were on each side of the truck, who were directing traffic, were wearing camo uniforms and tactical gear (but not the pussy cop riot/tactical gear that they have and not the SWAT team). I just thought this was really weird and figured they must have just got done raiding someplace but I've never seen or heard of this kind of force being used, ever, not in videos or anything. Does anybody know anything about what police use these vehicles for and if most departments have this kind of thing in their auto depot? I've seen the SWAT trucks they have and this is not the SWAT team. I sorta almost crashed into the semi when I was taking this picture. Haha they were probly like wtf?
I live in a rather nice suburb, and a few years ago there was a murder/suicide. The guy killed his wife and then had a standoff with the local SWAT team or whatever, he killed himself before they could do anything and I think it was kind of embarassing for them. But yeah, I was away at college and I was watching the news broadcasting live from my street. My friends must have thought I lived in a ghetto. They had all sorts of crazy gear and a vehicle like the one in your post.
Yea ive seen one of those n my town. A lil different tough. The SWAT team uses it for bomb alerts and for when riots break out. (flip it, flip it, flip it,...aahh good times) Once you c one of those n a rush, u kno somethings gotta be going down.
They've had armored vehicles in the Police Department for decades. Ever see Die Hard? Granted, the local PD in some po-dunk town isn't likely to have one, but the big cities? Absolutely. They're invaluable in riot control and any situation where the bad guys actually want to shoot at the cops. In the real world bullets blow right through cop cars like they are barely there.
ive never seen anything this extreme with turret capabilities.. how often do they really need that much force..
People use those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Usually civilians who are scared to get blown up (and make TONS of money as gov't contractors) buy SUVs and do this to them.