Tanks -- for doing what needs to be done
There are times when it is good to have a tank handy.
Or something very much like one.
A few days ago there was a bit of a local Facebook kerfuffle featuring a homemade video of an early morning situation in a Winona neighborhood. The video showed a large military-style armored vehicle flanked by police in what appeared to be full battle rattle. Agitated posters were quick to demand to know why a tank had been deployed to a residential area on a quiet morning.
The Winona Police willingly and publicly obliged. An individual had been stabbed and the suspect was holed up in an apartment in the neighborhood. Police had been told the suspect had vowed not to be taken to jail and there was reason to believe the suspect might have access to guns.
Ultimately the suspect was taken into custody without a physical struggle and the criminal justice system is taking its course.
And the tank? Well, it wasn’t a tank. It was a wheeled military vehicle described as an MRAP – Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected vehicle. Now some of the Facebook folks insisted that an armored vehicle on the street and body armor on the cops was overkill in a situation where nobody got hurt. I have to say, with part of that observation, they got it right – nobody got hurt. That was the idea from the get-go. As for overkill, let’s talk about that.
I’m going to be upfront about one thing, and if some folks want to call me biased because of it – I’m good with that. In my career and in my personal life I’ve spent a good amount of time hanging out with police officers and their families. I’ve hung around with local cops on duty and off since I was a kid and one of my best friend’s dad was a deputy sheriff. So when I hear about somebody getting hurt – or killed – in a confrontation between an officer and a suspect – my concern is going both ways.
And in this case, I’m solidly on the side of what some well-intentioned folks are calling overkill. While the nation’s attention is focused on cases of police misconduct and criticism of law enforcement in general, let’s not for a moment lose sight of the fact that so far this year 132 police officers have died in the line of duty – 29 of them by gunfire.
Just sit back and think on it for a moment – how many jobs do you know of that have “Get shot at” as part of the job description?
So let’s get back to that MRAP… But first, let’s take note of another one of those Fun Facts to Know and Tell – the United States has more civilian-held guns per capita – 120. 5 for every 100 Americans – than any other place in the world. Our closest competitor, Yemen, which, by the way, is in the midst of a civil war, has 52 for every 100 Yemenis. In this country it can be way, way easier to get a gun than to get a job, so when word is out that somebody has a gun, folks do well to believe it.
Especially cops. It’s their job to go into the line of fire. And I’m quite happy to provide them with a bit of Kevlar or an inch or two of hardened steel when they do. Every day the families of our local cops sent them off to work shadowed by the realization that before their shift is over they may be looking down the muzzle of an AR 15 equipped with a bump stock and 30 round clip. Until we as a nation are willing to do what must be done to keep deadly weapons out the hands of every Tom, Dick and Harriet of ill will and violent temperament, we’re morally bound to give the men and women we’ve charged with defending our collective well-being with whatever tools and protective-gear that entails.
Sometimes, it’s good to have a tank handy. And ultimately, we’re all responsible for that fact.