Five years ago, thanks to a federal program that distributes surplus military equipment to local police, Bridgeport acquired a heavily armored vehicle capable of withstanding a mine blast. Other places like Bristol, Hartford, New London, and Willimantic also got one.
As local media published town-by-town lists of the night vision goggles, rifles, thermal scopes, underwater sound equipment, reconnaissance cameras, and other armored vehicles acquired under the program, Connecticut legislators voted to henceforth prohibit the acquisition of certain military items.
