Liberty Minute November 22 2013

Like many other police chiefs and sheriffs nation-wide, Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson has procured a combat-grade armored vehicle for his department ? because the Pentagon is giving them away for free.

Boise is one of several Idaho cities ? including minuscule Preston, which is practically free of crime ? whose police departments have obtained Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected Vehicles, or MRAPs, which were designed for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chief Masterson insists that Boise residents who are alarmed over the prospect of police militarization are focusing on what he calls ?the symbolism of a free vehicle.? The MRAP, he contends, is necessary to protect his officers ? whom he calls ?peacekeepers? ? from ?high-caliber bullets and bombs? in what he calls ?an increasingly violent society.?

This claim isn?t statistically plausible. Boise?s crime rate is roughly two-thirds the national average for cities of its size, and has fallen every year since 2000. Masterson contends that although Boise ?hasn?t made national news for murder and mayhem,? his department should up-armor itself, just in case. Besides, he says, there are people in the city who may ?intend to harm our government and its most visible forms of authority.?

Chief Masterson?s counter-insurgency mindset is more dangerous than the combat-grade vehicle provided by the Pentagon.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.