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MRAPs: Arizona Police Departments Use Military Vehicles

Michelle Faust
/
KAWC Colorado River Public Media
MRAP

Arizona Edition - More and more police departments across the country and the state of Arizona have been acquiring armored trucks designed for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last decade.  In the past few years, the Pentagon has been giving away MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, to hundreds of police departments across the nation.  Critics decry the militarization of American police departments.  The American Civil Liberties Union has formally protested the Department of Defense program, saying it will escalate violence in our cities.  KAWC’s Stephanie Sanchez spoke with several police departments in Arizona who have added an MRAP to their vehicle fleets.  They say they need them to aid in the fight against increasingly militarized criminals…(originally aired 05/21/14).

This piece was featured in the May 21st Arizona Edition.  Other pieces featured in the show can be found below in the related content section.