The San Diego Unified School District announced Thursday it will return an armored personnel vehicle from the Iraq war acquired through the Defense Department‘s excess property program.
“Some members of our community are not comfortable with the district having this vehicle,” said Superintendent Cindy Marten. “If any part of our community is not comfortable with it, we cannot be comfortable with it.”
The vehicle, a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, was intended for use as a rescue vehicle in the event of an active shooter situation on a campus or other emergency, and was received from the Defense Department in April.
Rueben Littlejohn, chief of the district’s police department, said that since the riots in Ferguson, MO, public sentiment had turned against using excess military equipment. “The value that this defensive tool would bring cannot exceed the value of retaining the public’s trust, confidence and perceptions of how we will protect our students,” he explained.
The riots in Ferguson highlighted what some critics see as an unnecessary militarization of police forces.
The process for returning the vehicle is underway, though the district will have to retain the vehicle until a new recipient can be found.
