As the Iraq war was winding down, President H.W. Bush realized he had hundreds of war machines to get rid of before they started rusting. Consistent with Bush’s law-and-order priorities, a leftover from his Reagan service, he made a politically magnanimous offer to give the armored vehicles to domestic police agencies. They would be free – a gift. So began a new phase of militarizing domestic police agencies. Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand accepted one. He parked the brute and ugly machine proudly outside the county jail. “Let its presence be a don’t mess-with me deterrent,” he reasoned. Brand joined a regional police coalition, including Rochester, to share their machines. One idea was to give officer cover in a hostage shoot-out. Brand later admitted that the machines were impenetrable. Brand later admitted that the free gift turned out to be a mistake,. The county lacked the huge budget, as well as the in-house mechanical competence, to maintain the brutish but also sophisticated machines. Before retiring in 2014, Brand moved his county war machine into a police garage, out of sight.

Enter Donald Trump. With less need for armored war machines in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Tump followed the Bush model. Trump offered the machines to domestic police agencies. Hence in 2015 Winona County acquired its own MRAP. That’s militarese  for “Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected” vehicle. The military had about 12,000 of them, designed to carry soldiers through minefields and other danger zones. Each weighed 14 to 18 tons, stood  nine feet high, and cost between $500,000 and $1 million. Talk about deja vue. Talk about lessons quickly forgotten.

Winona County’s MRAP has been used seven times in six years, mostly to respond to suspects armed with firearms. Most recently, in February 2020, it was deployed to a standoff with a suspect armed with a shotgun following an attempted homicide. There are guidelines on using MRAPs. County policy states the MRAP is to be used:

> Barricaded suspects who refuse to surrender.

> Hostage situations.

> Suicide threats.

> Arrests of dangerous persons.

> To enable a SWAT team, these days formally called “an emergency response team,” to preserve life and maintain social order.

> To ensure the protection of property.

Earlier: Online rage erupts over war tank