Many United States police departments to receive MRAP armoured vehicles surplus US Army 1110135.

The Sept. 11 attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had a broad impact on American society. It could be argued that one of its vestiges has been a keen interest in armored vehicles by many police departments.

Buoyed by Department of Homeland Security grant money and surplus armored vehicles, many police departments have opted to buy the tanklike trucks, including Boulder, Colo., and Preston, Idaho.

A simple Google search for “police armored vehicle” turns up a list of articles from the last several weeks about nearly a dozen police departments that have acquired armored trucks: Cullman, Ala.; Murrieta, Calif.; Jacksonville, N.C.; Madison, Ind.; Yuma, Ariz.; Watauga County, N.C.; Oxford County, Maine; and Coffeyville, Kan.

One of the more recent examples is the Ohio State University Police Department, which recently picked up a surplus Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle – known as an MRAP – from the Pentagon for free. Richard Morman, deputy police chief at Ohio State, said in an interview that the department could use the heavy truck, which was developed for the military to protect troops from improvised explosive devices, land mines and other sneak attacks, to respond to natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

“The Department of Homeland Security identified stadiums as a risk for terrorist attacks,” he said, adding that the MRAP will play a role in providing stadium security, as well as responding to incidents like the tornado that ripped through Ohio State’s campus three years ago. “It’s a more special vehicle than the typical armored vehicle. This one can go through water.”

Deputy Chief Morman said that Ohio State’s MRAP was procured through the 1033 Program, which was designed to redistribute equipment that the Defense Department no longer needs to state and municipal agencies. According to DoDBuzz, a journal covering defense acquisition issues, MRAPs cost from $535,000 to $600,000 to produce.