SYRACUSE, N.Y. - While the Syracuse Police
Department's SWAT team awaited the arrival of its own 9 - ton BearCat
armored vehicle, an even bigger and better crime - fighting tank came along.
A U.S.
Department of Defense program that has been criticized for «militarizing» local police
departments by providing them with free surplus equipment has also provided school police around the country with
armored vehicles, semiautomatic rifles, and grenade launchers.