So... anyone seen these guys rolling around town? (Dallas)

[anygunanywhere]

It does not matter what reason or excuse you throw out trying to justify the militarization of any federal agency or for that matter state or local. It ain't right and you know it.

Anygunanywhere

[Abraham]

My acronym reference was stated in a light-hearted manner.

Just being a little silly...

[Syntyr]

It does not matter what reason or excuse you throw out trying to justify the militarization of any federal agency or for that matter state or local. It ain't right and you know it.

Anygunanywhere

[texanjoker]

It does not matter what reason or excuse you throw out trying to justify the militarization of any federal agency or for that matter state or local. It ain't right and you know it.

Anygunanywhere

Sorry gotta disagree as I don't see having an armored vehicle for a swat teams as militarizing an agency. Agencies need armored vehicles for hostage rescues, ect. Now they don't need tanks, but these are unarmed vehicles. Much better then the old days of using an old used armored car that some company donated.

[StewNTexas]

Think about how less threatening these would be if they were not painted BLACK.

Black makes it an assault vehicle.

Pretty pink would make it much more friendly.

Just saying...

[texanjoker]

Think about how less threatening these would be if they were not painted BLACK.

Black makes it an assault vehicle.

Pretty pink would make it much more friendly.

Just saying...

Black makes it an assault vehicle? Are you kidding?

[AEA]

Black makes our rifles "Assault Rifles". Just sayin'.

If there was one of "those things that go up" as well that would be really scarey!

[DJM]

Solution to end the gun control debate,

Mandatory, all "assault weapons" must be powder coated pink.

We might die alittle inside but hey, the Libs will leave us alone.

[talltex]

What LE powers does DHS have on it's own? The agency overseas and coordinates between many federal LE entities, but when did it become "Police/Rescue" on it's own? I'm used to seeing vehicles marked, police, sheriff, fire, border patrol, customs, TSA, etc., clearly telling the citizens which agency it is, but this is a first for me. What LE agency is DHS?

http://www.dhs.gov/types-jobs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Secret Service
Federal Protective Service

Sorry to say, but the idea that the DHS is purchasing these high dollar vehicles for Border Patrol and ICE just makes me cringe. Last fall I was at an auction of 350 DHS vehicles...they were all titled to DHS, but you could still see traces of Border Patrol/ICE decals on many of them. 75% of them were 2007 and 2008 Ford F250 Super Duty 4x4 crew cabs with diesel engines, most of the rest were 07 & 08 Chevy Tahoe 4x4's. Approximately 25% had around 100K mileage, the average was 60-80K, and maybe 20% had only 40-60K. The dealer cost on those Ford trucks is close to $40,000 and about $33,000 on the Tahoes. 53 of the vehicles were sold as totally undrivable/trailer only, due to damage. The only guarantee on the rest of them was that they would start and run...nothing on transmissions, suspension, electrical, etc...just that the engine would start. I have never seen a group of vehicles so totally beat to pieces and trashed out in that age and mileage. Oil Field roughneck trucks looked like showroom models compared to these. Most of them didn't have a single body panel that wasn't dented, torn, gouged or missing. Many had the front bumper assemblies broken off where the brackets bolt to the frame and one or both front wheels splayed out due to front suspension damage...evidently from jumping ditches and running over everything in sight rather than steering around an obstacle. On a number of the Tahoes the lower grille section was missing along with the bumper.Quite a few had the hoods and roofs caved in from people standing on them. Almost all of them...even those with less than 60K miles...had the interiors totally trashed...seats torn, burned & stained, dashes cracked, carpets either missing or caked with food, dirt and burn holes. Every dealer there was just stunned at the horrible condition of the vehicles, and I repeatedly heard comments about how you couldn't tear a truck up like that accidentally....you'd have to go out of your way to do that amount of damage, and how mad it made them to see millions of dollars in our tax money just destroyed like that. Most of the dealers simply refused to bid on them at any price, because it would take so much time and money to get them into sellable condition. The ones that had their own body shops and were willing to gamble on the amount of undercarriage damage (which couldn't be determined until after you'd bought it and gotten it up on a lift) paid an average of about $5000 on vehicles that had a average condition wholesale value of $15,000-20,000...and none of them felt like they had gotten a big bargain at that price. Given all that, I really question the need for purchasing $100,000-150,000 armored vehicles for them to play with and tear up.

[bayouhazard]

It does not matter what reason or excuse you throw out trying to justify the militarization of any federal agency or for that matter state or local. It ain't right and you know it.

Anygunanywhere

Cut these guys some slack. From what I have seen from DHS, this is the closest in their whole lives most of them will ever get to having a Humvee.

[RX8er]

I've seen them running around the Love Field area. The area in your picture kinds of looks familiar. It's only going to get worse in the next couple of days for the Bush Library opening.

[Wes]

No, but this was driving through the parking lot in Colleyville over lunch, not something you see everyday

[K.Mooneyham]

No, but this was driving through the parking lot in Colleyville over lunch, not something you see everyday

My dad built a model kit of one of those when I was a kid; I still have it, amazingly enough. Its a British Saladin armored car. Obviously somebody bought it and refurbished it to make it drivable, but I'm sure the main gun no longer functions. Pretty neat, though.

[AFAmmo]

Talltex, yes we Border Patrol Agents are rough on vehicles. We use them to climb up and down mountains every day. I would like to see how well your pickup truck would hold up under the same type of use. I do not know any agents who are “jumping ditches and running over everything in sight.” The places that we are required go to do our jobs do not have paved or even smooth roads. I have friends that have been seriously injured attempting to navigate rough terrain requiring them to do months of physical therapy to get back in uniform. It’s part of the job, and we accept the risk to do the best that we can to protect the borders.

[tallmike]

Sorry to say, but the idea that the DHS is purchasing these high dollar vehicles for Border Patrol and ICE just makes me cringe.[massive pruning to save space]...and none of them felt like they had gotten a big bargain at that price. Given all that, I really question the need for purchasing $100,000-150,000 armored vehicles for them to play with and tear up.

Perhaps we could do a media campaign in Mexico to encourage border jumpers to pick better routes so our border patrol vehicles will retain their resale value. We might even consider paving some paths for them to travel...

Sorry, but I occasionally work deal with our local PD and I know that they are pretty rough on their vehicles, especially when an officer calls for backup and they go as fast as they can to get there - on the road. I can only imagine that BP agents make frequent rushes to backup their fellow agents or help chase a running suspect. The difference is that the BP agents are having to get somewhere, as fast as they can, over rough terrain with lots of obstacles.

I don't personally know any BP agents, but I seriously doubt that any of them are intentionally roughing up their vehicles.