NY police rake in armored trucks, rifles from military

As long as police continue to arm themselves with military equipment, they’re going to approach every community as a war zone,” said state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, D-Pelham, Westchester County, who sponsors a bill to restrict police agencies’ participation in the program.

When you’re using this type of equipment, especially a tank, it’s like you go out and you’re looking for an enemy instead of seeing your neighbors or people in the community that you should know and have a relationship with,” Biaggi said.

The whole point of what we’re trying to get across is no one should have to worry about how policing will affect them based on who they are or where they live,” she said.