Does this attack show that law enforcement does need military grade equipment and weapons?

[Kaleva]

An armored vehicle was used to rescue some of the people in the building and looking at the pics, many of the leo on scene were armed with what appeared to be AR-15s with hi-cap magazines.

[jehop61]

1. Context?

[ManiacJoe]

2. When you say "need", do you mean

(1) need at all, or
(2) need more of?

AR-15 rifles and armored vehicles are "military grade" even if not real military.

[Kaleva]

4. There have been a few posts here where people complained about police having armored vehicles

[ManiacJoe]

5. You mean "need at all". Thanks for the clarification.

[Snobblevitch]

3. The armored vehicles are a relatively new thing.

but cops having rifles in their squads has been happening for a long time. It accelerated after the infamous 1997 North Hollywood bank robbery and subsequent shootout. LEO had to get rifles from a gun shop as they only had handguns to use to return fire. This was the only crime in recent years in which the perps used automatic weapons. They had body armor and were the only people to die in the incident.

[ManiacJoe]

6. If you have one, an armored vehicle is very handy

in situations like this for the exact reason of rescue and extraction.

The departments without armored vehicles sometimes commandeer armored trucks when available, but that tends to piss off the security companies.

AR-15 rifles are excellent long guns for patrol cars, better than general-purpose shotguns.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

7. The police are not there to "Protect and serve", they are there to protect the 1% from

the plebian masses. Do you really think your local police need tanks, AR 15s, night vision goggels, and body armour to deal with the petty criminals in your neighberhood? Nope! the police are there to make sure we the people submit peacefully and don't guillitene the 1%.

PS. I tried spell check and it just crashed my message.

[sarisataka]

8. Modern police vehicle

or old school may work