I strongly oppose the purchase of surplus military equipment by the MPPD and am appalled that it is on the Consent Agenda. I don’t know what the Council is thinking.
The use of such equipment - both the type and the source - is a highly contentious issue. The fact that it is free or at low cost is a temptation to grab what you can rather than what you need without putting any skin in the game.
If there are items that are of absolute necessity for the safety of the citizens of Menlo Park we should par for them ourselves. Make it hurt a bit and let people know that these are the values that the City stands for: the militarization of its police force through the use of advanced technologies designed to prove the police with more force and more surveillance. Some police departments like to think they are a para and that such weaponry are needed for training and putting down the one in a million chance that there will be a ▒▒▒▒▒▒ gang war, insurrection, or other emergency. When you have a big hammer, there’s a temptation to use it rather than find an alternative means of resolving the situation. If you don’t have a big hammer, you use what you have.
I can't believe the council is even considering it. What’s wrong with you people? I though we were moving to a more human approach to policing.
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Steve Taffee
600 Willow Rd Unit 10
Menlo Park, CA 94025-2676
steve.taffee@icloud.com
