Today’s keepers of the peace seem to believe nothing screams “justice” louder than a fully loaded 70-ton battle tank prowling the streets on the hunt for suspects.
Officials recently completed talks Saturday with the Louisiana School Board and the U.S Department of Defense to receive the green light on a brand new LSU Police Department tank unit.
LSUPD will be acquiring four M1A2 Abrams tanks from the U.S government by the end of April. The tanks will be armed with one 120 mm M256 Smooth Bore Cannon with an effective firing range of more than 3,000 meters, as well as one .50 mm machine gun and two 7.62 mm machine guns. Each tank costs nearly $6 million.
LSUPD was keen to receive approval for its tank unit before the month of May to ensure the tanks could be used on campus the day of the active shooter drill. The department plans to put the tanks to good use during the drill hope of putting the fear of God into any future instigators of a similar situation.
The department believes the tanks will be an effective force in the movement against campus crime. The tanks will have such an intimidating presence, the department decided to use them in response to almost every reported incident, especially in response to a suspicious persons report.
LSUPD currently lacks tank pilots among its ranks, though the department is planning to host open tryouts to the public on the Parade Ground sometime within the coming weeks.
Though the LSUPD tank division raises a few ethical red flags, the biggest concern with the tanks seems to be parking. As of now, LSUPD does not appear to have sufficient space in the department’s lot to park all four tanks.
To combat this issue, the department is striking up a second deal with the Athletic Department to allow for the tanks to be stored in Tiger Stadium during the hours in which they are not in use.
LSUPD’s tank unit may seem like a radical idea, but the department would just like to show the students just how much they care about safety.