Not
happening here
By
Will Collette
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| The Charlestown Tank/Duck, now gone to Johnston |
One of the first stories I ever wrote in Progressive Charlestown (August, 2011 – click here) was about getting to ride in an armored assault vehicle the Charlestown Police Department (CPD) had gotten for free under the military hardware program that has come under heavy scrutiny after the horrible scenes in Ferguson, MO.
I
have to admit that it was kind of exhilarating to ride around in an intense piece
of equipment like what then Chief Jack Shippee called “the Tank.” I had
some mixed feelings, knowing that sometimes, our police officers are up against crazies loaded up on heavy-duty
firepower. On the other hand, how much firepower do our police need?
So
I asked CPD
Chief Jeff Allen for an update on the Tank (which he calls the “Duck”) and
the other hardware Charlestown had obtained, including a couple of ex-military
Humvees. I asked him if we had any plans to get more such hardware in the future. I
asked if Charlestown has a SWAT.
Because
his
reputation has long been as a firm believer in “community policing,” I also
asked him for his thoughts about this whole issue of police militarization.
Here’s
Chief Allen’s reply:
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| Chief Allen at his swearing in ceremony, September 10, 2012 [Photo by Will Collette] |
As you know, I came to CPD two years ago
this coming September and it was within a short time after my arrival the
department unloaded the Armored Personnel Carrier, aka the "Duck" to
Johnston PD.
We currently have three Humvees, two which
are registered. The third was more or less given to us in trade
for "Duck."
As you may remember in a ProJo article last year the Johnston PD is very active in obtaining military surplus equipment from the Military through the Lesso Program.
As you may remember in a ProJo article last year the Johnston PD is very active in obtaining military surplus equipment from the Military through the Lesso Program.
What I have learned since I have been
in Charlestown is that the Humvees were very useful in super
storm Sandy as well as "Nemo". If we did not have
the Humvees we would not have been able to go to
Charlestown Beach Road to access the damage throughout the storm or after
the storm. The Humvees were also used extensively in "Nemo"
on back roads that were impassible to any other type of vehicle.
The ATVs are not government surplus and they
have been used sparingly on the beach and for festivals since I have been the
chief.
We do not have any other military
equipment nor do I plan on obtaining any in the future. What
people have to realize is that nothing comes for free with surplus
equipment, because you still have to maintain the equipment which can be
very costly.
That said, I have always been cautious when
someone says we can have equipment, etc.
As far as the duck is concerned as a
Charlestown resident and police officer I did not like the militaristic
perception that it portrayed.
That does not mean that the prior
chiefs did not have a valid reason for obtaining it in the first
place.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: the Tank/Duck was never decked out with weaponry – no machine gun or gas canister launcher even though the holders for such weapons came with the vehicle, no crowd control high-frequency sound generator – nothing like the gear we all saw deployed in Ferguson.]
[EDITOR’S NOTE: the Tank/Duck was never decked out with weaponry – no machine gun or gas canister launcher even though the holders for such weapons came with the vehicle, no crowd control high-frequency sound generator – nothing like the gear we all saw deployed in Ferguson.]
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| During the time Charlestown had the Tank/Duck, it had several different color schemes |
As you know policing goes through
trends and there was a time not long ago that police departments were
more than willing to take free government surplus equipment especially in
a post 911 environment.
The environment at that time was all about
protecting our shores from potential terrorist attacks and no police department
wanted to turn down free equipment when their peers were
accepting it.
Again at that time it was all about
being prepared for the next attack and no one wanted to be seconded guessed on
why they didn't have equipment that could have assisted in saving lives.
However the main reason we unloaded the
Duck was because it needed a tremendous amount of work, which would have been
very costly and I could not justify spending the tax payers money on
something that was never used except for an occasional ride in a parade.
And we no longer have an Emergency
Services Unit.
“Emergency
Services Unit” is another name for SWAT.
My
PC colleague Tom Ferrio, who is also a Charlestown Fire District volunteer
fire-fighter, had some interesting suggestions about the Humvees, such as
painting them in non-military colors. While it’s cheaper to leave them in camo,
painting them to match the CPD’s color scheme would be more in keeping with
Chief Allen’s community policing philosophy.
Tom
also suggested that “It would really be good if more uses could be found for [the
Humvees], e.g. jointly with the Fire Departments for fighting brush fires and
such. They could be housed indoors at the fire stations rather than out in the
weather [behind the police station] and the police could pick them up prior to a
storm hitting, as needed.”
The
bottom line is that there is no fear of Charlestown becoming even remotely like Ferguson with Chief Jeff Allen in charge.