Free Talk Live

"We're going to have our own tank." That's what Keene, N.H., Mayor Kendall Lane whispered to Councilman Mitch Greenwood during a December city council meeting.
It's not quite a tank. But the quaint town of 23,000 -- scene of just two murders since 1999 -- had just accepted a $285,933 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase a Bearcat, an eight-ton armored personnel vehicle made by Lenco Industries Inc.
But those plans are on hold for now, thanks to a backlash from feisty residents.

DHS Gives UC-Berkeley ‘Armored Personnel Carrier’

Heavily armored vehicle “used by U.S. troops on the battlefield”

An armored personnel carrier used by U.S. troops to fight insurgents on the battlefield is making its way to the University of California thanks to a $200,000 dollar grant from the Department of Homeland Security...

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office was recently bragging about the $300,000 drone that they bought with help from the Department of Homeland Security. They tried to do a fancy photo op featuring the drone and their Bearcat, and crashed one into the other. It's a paramilitary police state on parade.

The Bearcat used by the Seacoast Emergency response Team (SERT) which is an armored personnel vehicle stationed at the Rye Safety Complex.

Connecticut Senator, and chairman of the Homeland Security committee, Joseph Lieberman introduced legislation last week that would grant broad new emergency powers over the Internet to the federal government. The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA) would require broadband providers, search engines, and software companies to comply with emergency orders issued by the Department of Homeland Security under penalty of fine.

In June, the New Orleans Police Department received a federal grant that provides overtime pay to officers who help enforce seatbelt laws. Police salaries being what they are, the grant drew the attention of many officers, including one Glenn Gross.

Online rumors about a big government munitions purchase are true, sort of.

The Homeland Security Department wants to buy more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition in the next four or five years. It says it needs them — roughly the equivalent of five bullets for every person in the United States — for law enforcement agents in training and on duty.

The central Minnesota town of Foley tried having its own police department and contracting with the county sheriff's department for law enforcement.

Now, in an effort to save money, the city with a population of 2,600 is making a controversial move few others have done: Starting in January, it plans to employ a private security company to patrol its streets.

One might expect the lady in charge of the US Federal Government's Homeland Security department—the person leading US "cyber security" policy—to have an inbox full of briefings, encrypted strategies, and plans for keeping America safe from "Terrorists." But, she doesn't. In fact, Janet Napolitano, in her own words, doesn't use email "at all."