Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums11 Shocking Facts About America's Militarized Police Forces
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/11-shocking-facts-about-americas-militarized-police-forces***SNIP
1. It harms, and sometimes kills, innocent people. When you have heavily armed police officers using flash-bang grenades and armored personnel carriers, innocent people are bound to be hurt. The likelihood of people being killed is raised by the practice of SWAT teams busting down doors with no warning, which leads some people to think it may be a burglary, who could in turn try to defend themselves. The ACLU documented seven cases of civilians dying, and 46 people being injured. Thats only in the cases the civil liberties group looked at, so the number is actually higher.
***SNIP
2. Children are impacted. As the case of Wilson shows, the police busting down doors care little about whether theres a child in the home. Another case profiled by the ACLU shows how children are caught up the crossfire--with devastating consequences.
***SNIP
3. The use of SWAT teams is unnecessary. In many cases, using militarized teams of police is not needed. The ACLU report notes that the vast majority of cases where SWAT teams are deployed are in situations where a search warrant is being executed to just look for drugs. In other words, its not even 100% clear whether there are drugs at the place the police are going to. These situations are not why SWAT was created.
***SNIP
4. The war on terror is fueling militarization. It was the war on drugs that introduced militarized policing to the U.S. But the war on terror has accelerated it.
A growing number of agencies have taken advantage of the Department of Defenses 1033 program, which is passed every year as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, the budget for the Pentagon. The number of police agencies obtaining military equipment like mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles has increased since 2009, according to USA Today, which notes that this surplus military equipment is left over from U.S. military campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. This equipment is largely cost-free for the police agencies who receive them.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
7 replies, 1617 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (43)
ReplyReply to this post
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
11 Shocking Facts About America's Militarized Police Forces (Original Post)
xchrom
Jun 2014
OP
You find the good stuff. This isn't an article, its an indictment. Thank you for posting it! There..
marble falls
Jun 2014
#6
merrily
(45,251 posts)1. Amen, xchrom, amen.
ColesCountyDem
(6,943 posts)2. Give someone a hammer, and everything begins to look like a nail. n/t
daleanime
(17,796 posts)3. K&R....
Arkansas Granny
(31,483 posts)4. Even in the city where I live with a population of under 100K,
the police are wearing more and more military style equipment just for routine street patrols. My boss spoke to one patrolman who was investigating a break-in and learned that he carried 3 firearms on his body and had 2 more in his car.
After 9/11 our police force received a lot of equipment and grants from DHS, including robots for bomb removal.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)5. Better read this. Highly recommended. And kicked.
marble falls
(56,358 posts)6. You find the good stuff. This isn't an article, its an indictment. Thank you for posting it! There..
is one area not mentioned: residency. A lot police in larger cities aren't living in the cities they "patrol". In effect they are occupying armies. And as you've pointed out with your article, they look like it, too.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)7. K&R