Campbell PD Tank Spotted in Downtown Campbell |SanJoseChange

A family car ride home(6/13/10), and we see a military style CAMPBELL POLICE DEPARTMENT tank that stopped at a traffic stop in a sleepy town like Campbell of 38,000 people. What is this thing doing at traffic stops, is it because of utility or INTIMIDATION?!

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[SanJoseChange]

THOR is a symbol of police authoritarianism when a man on a turret on a tank-styled vehicle stops behind a police car at a traffic stop. It may be a cool looking car, but that doesnt mean anything. I'm not speaking against the use of this vehicle, but traffic stops should be left to the regular police cars. And I don't think you realize that the drug war has no ground anymore, so I don't feel that the use of this car for raids makes the use of it better. Thank you for your comments.

[shmoopify]

sry about the double posting. Anyway, I can 100% garuntee you that this vehicle was on the way back from either a training excercise or real event and came across that car stop by chance. This vehicle does NOT just cruise around the streets. If it is out, it is for a good reason. It saddens me that people in the community would automatically think that the police were trying to intimidate rather than maybe thinking there was a good reason for seeing that car on a stop.

[SanJoseChange]

@shmoopify I'd like to believe that, but 2 things: we saw this vehicle taking unnecessary routes to whatever its destination was to be, and there was a man on the turret(may not be the right term) looking around. Not to mention the stopping behind the cop at a standard, quick traffic stop. If this was just traveling A to B, then why did these actions occur what-so-ever? We aren't assuming intimidation, we are speculating that this appears as intimidation. Regardless, that would be the effect.

[blckhwk313]

@SanJoseChange Did you think maybe he was going to a real call then? Or coming back like they said? That APC (armored personnel carrier) has TERRIBLE blind spots and visibility to its sides and rear. If it was coming from somewhere the guy was probably out the turret keeping an eye on things giving the driver cues to help keep them alert since they can only see out of little slats and periscopes. If it was taking those routes it was probably trying to avoid being spotted by lookouts.

[SanJoseChange]

@blckhwk313 Well, "shmoopify" said the man on the top would have been steering the vehicle, but could've been keeping an eye out. That is a valid explanation as to why I saw it taking an odd route to the nearby station. Thank you for clearing that up. I don't blame the officers or any police department; I'm saying that this vehicle is not necessary for traffic stops and, therefore, should not be used because of the simple possibility of perceived intimidation. This should be common sense.

[TheJovanist]

If you go up against the Federal Gov't and suppose they know where you live.....they can covertly plant drugs and/ or weapons in your home...then run over your house with one of these military vehicles. Next you will labeled a terrorist. It may sound extreme but this is sadly the soon to be America a.k.a the police state.

[Animusmors]

F--- this S---. I live in San Jose!!! So I guess the S--- hits the fan really soon then. Doesn't surprise me that it's Campbell police. Those guys are a--holes. There are cameras up EVERYWHERE in that town. They'll pull you over for anything and treat you like dirt.

[disc6YoyO]

Soo..... People don't know that Campbell has a curfew that is strictly enforced due to a spike in gang violence people are getting killed everyday, but no one knows about any of it the news doesn't recognize the killings so people assume that everything is alright, however the cops know what lurks in "the sleepy town of Campbell" so when you see this tank don't give them any guff the Campbell police are trying to maintain order

[Russe11100]

THAT IS A NEW MILITARIZED POLICE.

[BoomTen80]

@BoomTen80 bump

[SanJoseChange]

@blckhwk313 You're rehashing the the same points from shmoopify. I'm NOT speaking against officers having rightly placed concerns for danger, and a need for backup. I'm speaking against using this vehicle for that situation. I'm simply arguing that it WILL be perceived intimidation by the person being stopped. This is a problem, and if you're worried about retaliation from people being stopped, you might not want to support INTIMIDATION. I also didn't say "simple" traffic stop; I said standard.

[blckhwk313]

@SanJoseChange Or because it was a late night, probably a dark road, and there is no such thing as a simple traffic stop. Any person can pull a gun or be a mass murderer. Many officers will stop at night and double up on the presence or at least stop and check on the initiating officer to ensure everything is "A-OK" and that there are no problems. If you pulled someone over on a dark road in the middle of the night, would you not want back up incase the car holds a murder or 5 people?

[2550505]

@SanJoseChange

Your intimidated? I saw this thing today and the first thing I thought of was how cool that thing is. And people would only be intimidated if they had done something wrong. And have you ever heard of hostage situations or barricaded suspects, or mumbai massacre? AND WTF!!!! DO you expect them to NOT stop at traffic lights? It was driving at NIGHT so i doubt that is prime 'Intimidation' time

[BoomTen80]

THOR needs to be driven around every few weeks to for maintanentce reasons. so they do drive it around the streets of campbell and surrounding neighborhoods at night to avoid the most amount of traffic. and the driver must have his torso sticking out of the vehicle in order to see, and yes there is a turret but no weapon is attached. for operational purposes a police sniper would occupy that seat. and for everyone that does not know THOR is The Hostage Officer Rescue vehicle. Not a tank.