Because you never know when Marietta’s going to turn into Fallujah.

http://www.theagitator.com/2008/10/10/cobb-county-georgia-cops-new-toy/


http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/metro/cobb/cobb-swat-tank/2.html

Cobb police add tank to arsenal
By DERRICK MAHONE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday, October 10, 2008

Don’t be surprised to see an Army tank rolling down a street near you.

The Cobb County police department has refurbished a donated Armored Personnel Carrier for officers to use in SWAT situations.

The vehicle, which retails for $500,000, is a Light Armor Vehicle that was used by the U.S. Army in Panama. The county paid $45,000 to upgrade the vehicle for police use.

Equipped with thermal sensors, computerized tracking devices, night vision, tear gas launchers and other gadgets, the all-black six-wheel unit can hold up to nine SWAT officers.

It has a new engine and transmission, which will allow it to reach a speed of 60 miles per hour.

“In these times, you don’t know what you are facing,” Cobb police chief George Hatfield said. “We want the maximum safety for our officers and the public. We want to be prepared for whatever comes up. This is another tool that will allow us to be quicker and faster in our response.”

Since 2000, SWAT has used a Peacekeeper vehicle on calls. The APC will allow SWAT officers to get closer to dangerous situations and transport citizens out of them. If officers are tracking a suspect, they can do so from within the vehicle. So far this year, Cobb’s SWAT team has responded to about 50 calls.

Walker County is the only other police department in Georgia with a similar vehicle. Gwinnett County and the state patrol use the LENCO vehicle, which resembles an armored truck. Clayton County has a Peacekeeper vehicle.

“You always hope that you don’t have to use it, but this is becoming a fact of life,” SWAT commander Lt. Joel Preston said. “You have to be prepared and make the situation safer.”

Once SWAT members complete training on the APC, the Peacekeeper will be refurbished for future use.

“These two units will eventually work in tandem,” said Det. Steve Brawner, who has overseen the project.

Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, the APC will be on display at Marietta’s town square.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2008/10/10/police_tank.html

Speaking of Police state toys:

Army Orders Pain Ray Trucks; New Report Shows 'Potential for Death'

For $25 Million, Army Buys System That Drives Off Rioters With Microwave-Like Beam
By DAVID HAMBLING
Oct. 11, 2008


After years of testing, the Active Denial System -- the pain ray which drives off rioters with a microwave-like beam -- could finally have its day. The Army is buying five of the truck-mounted systems for $25 million. But the energy weapon may face new hurdles, before it's shipped off to the battlefield; a new report details how the supposedly non-lethal blaster could be turned into a flesh-frying killer.

The contract for the pain ray trucks is "expected to be awarded by year's end," Aviation Week notes. "A year after the contract is signed, the combination vehicle/weapons will start be fielded at the rate of one per month."

It's been a very long time coming. As we've previously reported, there have been calls to deploy the Active Denial System in Iraq going back to 2004. But it's always been delayed for legal, political, and public relations reasons. Anything that might be condemned as torture is political dynamite. Interestingly, the version being bought is not the full-size "Version 2," but a containerized system known as Silent Guardian, which Raytheon have been trying to sell for some time. They describe Silent Guardian as "roughly 1/3 the size and power of the other Active Denial Systems," and quote it's range as "greater than 250 meters." The larger system has a range somewhere in excess of 700 meters.

Silent Guardian weighs a shade over 10,000 pounds all up, and will be mounted on an "armored ruggedized HEMTT [Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck]."

The announcement arrives on the same day as a new report from less-lethal weapons expert Dr. Jürgen Altmann that analyzes the physics of several directed energy weapons, including Active Denial, the Advanced Tactical Laser (used as a non-lethal weapon), the Pulsed Energy Projectile (a.k.a. "Maximum Pain" laser) and the Long Range Acoustic Device (a.k.a. "Acoustic Blaster").

Dr. Altmann describes the Active Denial beam in some detail, noting that it will not be completely uniform; anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the center will experience more heating than someone at the edge. And perhaps more significant is his thorough analysis of the heating it produces -- and the cumulative effect if the target does not have the chance to cool down between exposures. In U.S. military tests, a fifteen-second delay between exposures was strictly observed; this may not happen when the ADS is used for real.

"As a consequence, the ADS provides the technical possibility to produce burns of second and third degree. Because the beam of diameter 2 m and above is wider than human size, such burns would occur over considerable parts of the body, up to 50% of its surface. Second- and third-degree burns covering more than 20% of the body surface are potentially life-threatening – due to toxic tissue-decay products and increased sensitivity to infection – and require intensive care in a specialized unit. Without a technical device that reliably prevents re-triggering on the same target subject, the ADS has a potential to produce permanent injury or death. "

This potential hazard need not be a show-stopper -- existing less-lethals, such as plastic bullets and tear gas, can also be fatal under some circumstances (and I'm not even going to get into the argument about Tasers).

Dr. Altmann notes that "the present analysis has not found convincing arguments that the ADS would be immoral or illegal in each foreseeable circumstance," and that acceptance will depend very much on how it is used. If the ADS prevents small boats from approaching a U.S. vessel without harming anyone, then it will be seen as a humane option. If it is used to clear protesters out of the way it may be seen differently.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Justice is still has a reported interest in a "hand-held, probably rifle-sized, short range weapon that could be effective at tens of feet for law enforcement officials." That's just one of the likely domestic applications of Active Denial technology which are likely to follow if the Army's experiment with ADS is successful. A lot of people will be watching this one very closely.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6007823&page=1

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Containerized... hmmm... where have I heard those words before?

I got it, every interview and article done involving the fact that NorthCom has it's own Army brigade ready and trained to "police" the good ole USA.