Beware the “Death Van.”

It’s not what you might be thinking. The Death Van isn’t some comic book or movie character that goes around killing bad guys by running them over or blowing them up.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

This truck does go around killing people. But it kills them legally.

The Death Van is the nickname for China’s fleet of mobile execution chambers. The inconspicuous vehicles, which resemble a tour bus crossed with a police squad car, measure 20 to 26 feet long.

The manufacturer is the Jinguan Group in China The company also makes bulletproof limousines and armored trucks for banks. Talk about technology transfer.

The Death Vans travel to areas where executions by lethal injection might not otherwise be possible.

With the vehicles, small town and cities don’t have to have their own execution faculties or have to be bothered with disposing of the dead bodies. The Death Vans handle both.

Executions in the Death Vans are viewed on closed circuit television so that local law enforcement authorities can view the lethal injections to make sure they are carried out legally. Thoughtful, don’t you think?

Another “nice” thing about the vans is that prisoners sentenced to death can be executed locally, closer to communities where they broke the law. The idea being: to better deter others from committing crime in the area.

China, the world leader in executing convicted criminals, you may interested to know, is slowly phasing out public executions by firing squad in favor of lethal injections.

Another interesting item: Jinguan Group’s glossy brochure on its mobile execution chambers are in Chinese and in English.

I imagine it takes a certain type of individual to want to become a Death Van driver.

How’d you like to have to write the driver recruitment ad for that position?

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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