The day after HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" highlighted the Saginaw County Sheriff's 19-ton Mine-Resistant Ambush Proof (MRAP) vehicle during coverage of citizen-police clashes in Ferguson, Missouri, Sheriff Bill Federspiel confirmed that plans had already been laid for the vehicle to leave the county for good.
So nothing to do with recognizing the stupidity of acquiring it in the first place, then. Just additional stupidity in not foreseeing that it would be expensive to maintain."I made the decision about a month ago to decommission that vehicle," Federspiel said, noting he did it based on financial concerns due to unforeseen maintenance costs
this is the big picture here. Not because it's a terrible idea to have one in general, but because it was "too expensive."
I was curious as to why he was fired, and found this article: http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2014/08/saginaw_undersheriff_robert_ka.html I'm really confused as to what this means...He said the idea to get the vehicle came from former undersheriff Robert Karl, who was recently fired. The sheriff said he was "a little hesitant" but he agreed to get the vehicle and see if it would be useful.
"As I've been able to assess this agency over the last six years in office, I've come to realize that we need to move into more of a business model as opposed to a government model," the sheriff said. Karl "had an excellent skill set when it came to law enforcement and experience in that, but when I started to look at it, what I'm looking for is a skill set that better complements mine with the new business model. And that's nothing to knock (Karl) or say he's not capable. What I'm looking at is to bring someone in under a business model who can offer a fresh perspective."
I missed this part: Maybe he wanted some sort of better IT associated with their county or something.Federspiel said he "would like to make a decision within the next 30 days" and will look for a candidate who has a "diverse background," has a "higher education" than Federspiel's master's degree in public administration, and whose "strong suit is going to include finance, information technology and project management."