2009 TDPRI Giveaway Winners List is available HERE

Mik · April 19th, 2005, 11:25 AM

Arizona swat team is recruiting a monkey. These capuchin monkeys would be underemployed setting up guitars and rebiasing amps!

MESA, Ariz. - The Mesa Police Department is looking to add some primal instinct to its SWAT team. And to do that, it's looking to a monkey.

"Everybody laughs about it until they really start thinking about it," said Mesa Officer Sean Truelove, who builds and operates tactical robots for the suburban Phoenix SWAT team. "It would change the way we do business."

Truelove is spearheading the department's request to purchase and train a capuchin monkey, considered the second smartest primate to the chimpanzee. The department is seeking about $100,000 in federal grant money to put the idea to use in Mesa SWAT operations.

The monkey, which costs $15,000, is what Truelove envisions as the ultimate SWAT reconnaissance tool.

Since 1979, capuchin monkeys have been trained to be companions for people who are quadriplegics by performing daily tasks, such as serving food, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, retrieving objects and brushing hair.

Truelove hopes the same training could prepare a monkey for special-ops intelligence.

Weighing only 3 to 8 pounds with tiny humanlike hands and puzzle-solving skills, Truelove said it could unlock doors, search buildings and find suicide victims on command. Dressed in a Kevlar vest, video camera and two-way radio, the small monkey would be able to get into places no officer or robot could go.

It has been a little over a year since Truelove filed a grant proposal with the U.S. Department of Defense under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and he is still waiting for word.

If the grant goes through, Truelove plans on learning how to train the monkey himself and keeping the sociable monkey at home, just like a K-9 officer would. He projects that $85,000 in grant money would outfit the monkey with gear and pay for veterinarian care, food and habitat for three years.

___

Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune, http://www.aztrib.com

FUMoney · April 19th, 2005, 12:04 PM

That's hysterical!

Ed

Fret Wilkes · April 19th, 2005, 12:12 PM

"COPS HAVE MONKEY ON THEIR BACK"

Fret

SteveY · April 20th, 2005, 12:36 AM

Oh great!
They get guns, too?

"...Surrender now, or we send in the monkey!"

April 19th, 2005, 11:25 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mik Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,809	SWAT the monkey Arizona swat team is recruiting a monkey. These capuchin monkeys would be underemployed setting up guitars and rebiasing amps! MESA, Ariz. - The Mesa Police Department is looking to add some primal instinct to its SWAT team. And to do that, it's looking to a monkey. "Everybody laughs about it until they really start thinking about it," said Mesa Officer Sean Truelove, who builds and operates tactical robots for the suburban Phoenix SWAT team. "It would change the way we do business." Truelove is spearheading the department's request to purchase and train a capuchin monkey, considered the second smartest primate to the chimpanzee. The department is seeking about $100,000 in federal grant money to put the idea to use in Mesa SWAT operations. The monkey, which costs $15,000, is what Truelove envisions as the ultimate SWAT reconnaissance tool. Since 1979, capuchin monkeys have been trained to be companions for people who are quadriplegics by performing daily tasks, such as serving food, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, retrieving objects and brushing hair. Truelove hopes the same training could prepare a monkey for special-ops intelligence. Weighing only 3 to 8 pounds with tiny humanlike hands and puzzle-solving skills, Truelove said it could unlock doors, search buildings and find suicide victims on command. Dressed in a Kevlar vest, video camera and two-way radio, the small monkey would be able to get into places no officer or robot could go. It has been a little over a year since Truelove filed a grant proposal with the U.S. Department of Defense under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and he is still waiting for word. If the grant goes through, Truelove plans on learning how to train the monkey himself and keeping the sociable monkey at home, just like a K-9 officer would. He projects that $85,000 in grant money would outfit the monkey with gear and pay for veterinarian care, food and habitat for three years. ___ Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune, http://www.aztrib.com __________________ a "motor-bike with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth, because of its logical extension of our faculties, and the hint, the provocations, to excess."-T.E. Lawrence

April 19th, 2005, 12:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
Fret Wilkes Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Harmony, R.I. Age: 52 Posts: 1,500 47 Photos	I can see the headlines now... "COPS HAVE MONKEY ON THEIR BACK" Fret __________________ See, I didn't reconize ya when ya first drove up till ya stuck yer hand out and wove then I seen right off who ya was and knowd ya.

April 19th, 2005, 12:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
FUMoney Tele-Meister Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Cape May,NJ Posts: 255	That's hysterical! Ed

April 20th, 2005, 12:36 AM	#4 (permalink)
SteveY Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Age: 59 Posts: 1,507	Oh great! They get guns, too? "...Surrender now, or we send in the monkey!"

2009 TDPRI Giveaway Winners List is available HERE

IMPORTANT:Treat everyone here with respect, no matter how difficult! No sex, drug, political, religion or hate discussion permitted here.