When you think of the buyers for a military vehicle that makes a Hummer look like a Toyota Corolla, a “school district” is the last buyer you’d think would be placing a bid.
But for the grand total of $5000 in shipping costs, the San Diego and Los Angeles Unified School Districts inherited a $730,000 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protection Vehicle (MRAP).
The MRAP was designed to combat the IEDs faced by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were strong enough to penetrate existing Humvees.
So what does a school district need it for?
“Our idea is: How can we get in and pull out a classroom at a time of kids if there’s an active shooter? If there’s a fire [or] if there’s an earthquake, can we rip down a wall? Stuff like that,” Captain Joe Florentino told KBPS.
You can’t really blame him for not having a more coherent answer than that–after all, if you could get a military vehicle worth more than double the value of the average American home for the price of a beat up Camry, you’d probably be at a loss for words too.
It makes sense: active shooter–a police car can’t get inside a locked school. Earthquake–you’re right on the San Andreas fault and there could be kids trapped inside a building
“It’s not police militarizing schools,” he told KBPS. “There will be medical supplies in the vehicle. There will be teddy bears in the vehicle. There will be trauma kits in the vehicle in the event any student is injured, and our officers are trained to give first aid and CPR.”
I gotta admit–it’s a pretty badass way to transport first aid kits and teddy bears.
It only costs $500/year in upkeep costs.
So when are they gonna start selling these to civilians?