Wednesday, June 25, 2014

On 'The Excessive Militarization of American Policing'

National ACLU this week published a new report titled "War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing." (Hmmm, seems like there was a recent book on that topic.) I haven't had a chance to read it yet but thought I'd pass the link along. There appear to be quite a few Texas-specific details and examples in the full report (pdf), for anyone interested. I also found their framing of the issue potentially compelling: "Nearly 80% of the SWAT raids the ACLU studied were conducted to serve search warrants, usually in drug cases. With public support for the War on Drugs at an all-time low, police are using hyper-aggressive, wartime tools and tactics to fight a war that has lost its public mandate." (Wonder how that would test on a poll?) They've even produced a pretty potent passel of short web videos, maps, slideshows, and other online accoutrements supporting its release. Nicely done.

2 comments:

Phelps said...

I, for one, take comfort in the idea that if the need arises, I and 10-20 friends could grab our hunting rifles, head to the local police station, and avail ourselves of all the assault rifles, body armor, armored vehicles, communications gear and flash bang grenades we would need.

Thank you, US government, for helpfully prepositioning the materiel for the revolution conveniently in our own neighborhoods!

The Homeless Cowboy said...

Well there you have it folks, taking a chapter from the recent idiocy in Crimea and such, as well as the fully stupid people in Syria and Iraq. Boy these govt people are wonderful about giving our local Militias access to the materials needed to make you look as stupid as you evidently are