Agree. But what is wrong with an armored vehicle being available for barricaded gunmen or hostage situations-both seemingly increasing in frequencies?  Sure-it's big and scary looking-part of the psychological part of dealing with the situations- but as Airdog commented is, in actuality, little more than an an armored bank truck. Upgraded body armor?  Standard law enforcement body armor is limited to largely handgun calibers, and is even defeated by any number of handgun rounds. The mine dectector mentioned in the story surprised me, but the explanation about shell casings made sense. Fully automatic or select fore rifles? Unfortunately they have their place. And have since Bonnie and Clyde got taken out by a surplus BAR. Instead of being automatically critical I suggest people educate themselves about the uses, and cost to the agencies, of this equipment. Few would criticize a fire department for accepting a piece of super equipment with limited, but potentially beneficial, equipment.