This is what happens when FedGov has to much printed currency to spend on unnecessary things like building tactical teams.

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) It’s not the way you usually see the SWAT Team in action. On Wednesday, members of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office tactical units took part in the latest in a series of cold weather training on skis and snowshoes at Sprague Brook Park in the Town of Concord.

“I think one of the greatest strengths of what the Sheriff’s department can offer here, this is just a greater way for us to serve the community,” said Lt. Neil Held, a member of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and Bomb Squad.

A few winters ago, when many people became trapped in their vehicles during a storm, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office took a better look at ways to get to them, according to SWAT Team Captain Warren Hawthorn. “If a vehicle, regardless of how large the vehicle is, can’t get into a narrow spot or snow is simply too deep for a snowmobile, the last resort is you have to go get those peple on foot or on skiis or on snow shoes and this gives us that ability to do that.”

The ability to get to them on foot could be a matter of life or death, according to Lt. Held. “Maybe it’s dropping off blankets to them, or some type of cold weather supplies to help sustain them through them being stranded wherever it is that they are, so if they need to be evacuated then we have that capability also.”

The Erie County Sheriff’s Office received a tactical team grant through the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to pay for the type of training which took place Wednesday at Sprague Brook Park in Concord.

Why such a grant as this would go to a SWAT team rather than a local fire department isn’t clear, probably because there is no excuse for this.

And this is what happens when local taxpayers spend too much on their SWAT teams.

The United Arab Emirates’ record on human rights abuses and arresting dissidents has drawn criticism from the international community and the U.S. Department of State. But that didn’t stop three Florida sheriff’s office SWAT teams from attending a nearly two-week competition there earlier this month.

Dubai police have come under criticism for arresting people for posting videos to social media that are critical of the government or otherwise deemed offensive. Undeterred, sheriff’s offices from Flagler, Alachua, and Osceola counties — along with the New York Police Department — recently flew to Dubai to learn from those police agencies on trips subsidized by the UAE’s Interior Ministry.

The three Florida agencies and the NYPD were the only four American law enforcement agencies invited to the competition, which stretched from Feb. 4-14, according to the event’s agenda.

[ … ]

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office told the Times-Union that the Dubai Police covered all expenses for the team to include travel, lodging, meals and “things needed for the competition.”

“The only expense we had was we paid the daily wages of the deputies involved and for travel insurance,” said Public Information Officer Art Forgey.

In its press release, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said Sheriff Rick Staly “personally met with the Dubai Police Chief and Deputy Prime Minister Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan.”

“He also learned how Dubai Police serve their community, which is significantly different than American policing and extensively uses advanced technology and does not use traditional patrols,” the sheriff’s public information officer said.

Dubai is blanketed with thousands of surveillance cameras that are connected to a central command center that uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition to monitor civilians.

Well I’m glad the Sheriff himself got to be a part of this shindig.  Perhaps they can figure out a way to blanket America with thousands of surveillance cameras along with all of those JTTF Fusion centers.  After all, the constitution doesn’t really matter.

Then there’s the issue of a standing army and the objections to it.  Not a standing army, you say?  Go take a look at the picture of the team.  It matters not how they’re dressed – what really matters is what they think of themselves.  You can tell it from the photo.