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xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 05:14 AM Jun 2014

11 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. That’s 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 there’s 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, it’s 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 Defense’s “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.
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11 Shocking Facts About America's Militarized Police Forces (Original Post) xchrom Jun 2014 OP
Amen, xchrom, amen. merrily Jun 2014 #1
Give someone a hammer, and everything begins to look like a nail. n/t ColesCountyDem Jun 2014 #2
K&R.... daleanime Jun 2014 #3
Even in the city where I live with a population of under 100K, Arkansas Granny Jun 2014 #4
Better read this. Highly recommended. And kicked. Enthusiast Jun 2014 #5
You find the good stuff. This isn't an article, its an indictment. Thank you for posting it! There.. marble falls Jun 2014 #6
K&R woo me with science Jul 2014 #7

Arkansas Granny

(31,483 posts)
4. Even in the city where I live with a population of under 100K,
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 06:44 AM
Jun 2014

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.

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..
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 07:49 AM
Jun 2014

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.

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