Season 4 Episode 4: Military Gear Swap

SFR journalists discuss their reporting on the Santa Fe Police Department’s attempts at demilitarization

MRAP Humvee Reported Header

By Katherine Lewin

Back in July, Police Chief Andrew Padilla promised the city council and outraged residents that the department would quote “demilitarize” by getting rid of used military vehicles from the federal government.

Turns out the chief wasn’t especially keen on the idea, but a little poking around and some public records requests revealed that he did keep his word... But we found that they didn’t end up going very far. And by that, we mean they went less than an hour down the road.

There’s a lot more to this story, so click below to listen to Season 4 Episode 4 of Reported, the Santa Fe Reporter’s podcast.

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Music: Lone Piñon

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