New Haven State Rep. Pat Dillon voted once to prevent cops from rolling an armored military tank onto the streets — and she’s prepared to vote no again, and debate the issue, if needed.
Dillon had cast one of only 15 Democratic dissenting votes this state legislative session against a bill that would allow West Haven to buy a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle (aka MRAP, pictured above). The town needed the bill to pass to get the permission, because a 2020 police accountability law banned the purchase of such equipment to restrain the militarization of local departments.
Although the West Haven-exemption law passed, Gov. Ned Lamont Wednesday vetoed it.
“If there’s an attempt to override the veto, I’m prepared for a robust debate on this policy,” Dillon said Thursday.
Supporters of the bill said West Haven needs the equipment to traverse local streets during super-storms.
“I understand the desire to help our towns, but militarizing our streets is not the way to do it,” Dillon stated. The bill to exempt West Haven “takes us in the wrong direction — more military grade equipment on our streets,” she said.
Dillon: Wrong direction.
Dillon cited the army’s description of MRAPs as “provid[ing] Soldiers with highly survivable multi-mission platforms capable of mitigating improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, explosively formed penetrators, underbody mines and small arms fire threats which produce the greatest number of casualties in Overseas Contingency Operations.”
In his veto message, Lamont stated that he agreed with the legislature’s decision in 2020 to include MRAPs the list of banned equipment for local departments to purchase. He called such equipment “inconsistent” with “the type of community-focused policing my administration supports.”
Lamont Wednesday also signed a bill Dillon cosponsored to ban the use of the chemical chlorphyrifos on golf courses. Laura Cahn of New Haven’s Environmental Advisory Council had originally brought the issue to light for public discussion.