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You need to sue to get it back. Even if the trial is acquitted. It's a major source of revenue for police. It's one reason why they're becoming more and more militarized.

New Yorker Article: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/08/12/taken

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Police departments actually get a lot of their military-grade equipment free from the federal government. After the military has given away their "obsolete" tanks to police departments, they can order new tanks from defense contractors. This makes the very rich, influential people at the top levels of the military-industrial complex even richer and more influential.

Not quite free, but purchased using grants. It works out, that if they don't take the grants, they'll be in danger of losing funding in the future. These grants aren't just, "Here's a tank". It could be, "here's a tank, and medical equipment"

In essence, their hand is forced to take the gift. There's been backlash about this.

http://rt.com/usa/186788-police-weapons-military-grants/

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/08/23/obama-orde...

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