Dover City Council voted, 7-1, Wednesday to accept a $240,000 grant to purchase the police department a BearCat.
This ‘cat, by the way, is not the least bit fuzzy – in fact, the name is an acronym for (get this with a straight face, if you can – its pomposity says everything) a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck. That is, an armored vehicle for a city of 30,000 mostly average Americans.
More galling is the fact that the grant comes from the federal Homeland Security department. Are they trying to tell us international terrorists have put us in the bull’s-eye?
It’s really ridiculous.
A hearing Tuesday, with very little advance notice or public input, paved the way for Wednesday’s abrupt vote.
This is not how democracy’s supposed to work, especially at the local level. Some of us are feeling steamrollered by that truck. And steamed up, as well.
Jnana's Red Barn 
Get a Bear and a Cat and put them in the BearCat. Stand back.
Brilliant! And sell the rights to the home movies.
Berlin, NH a short hop from here did the same thing back in January. No public hearings but a lot of people did arrive with protests signs during the city council meeting. A lot of people showed up to no avail. An armored vehicle is coming. My goodness the population of Berlin population 10,000. A true waste of government $$$.
Thinking of your city’s history of arson and its financially strapped status, it’s fair to ask — would this have stopped the apartment fires?
No way! Maybe it will give something for kids to do. Steal the thing for a joyride.