militarization of police

The Psychotic Militarization of Law Enforcement

~ admin ~ 2 Comments

Sartre – How did it ever come down to abandoning peace keeping and accepting law enforcement by any means? Even the New York Times expresses alarm in, When the Police Go Military.“The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally bars the military from law enforcement activities within the United States. But today, some local and city police forces have rendered the law rather moot. They have tanks – yes, tanks, often from military surplus, for use in hostage situations or drug raids – not to mention the sort of equipment and training one would need to deter a Mumbai-style guerrilla assault.”

PoliceWorld Net Daily offers a sad chronicle in the essay, The growing militarization of U.S. police.

“The SWAT concept was popularized by Los Angeles Police Chief Darryl Gates in the late 1960s in response to large-scale incidents for which the police were ill-prepared. But the use of SWAT teams has since exploded. Massive SWAT raids using military-style equipment are becoming routine methods for executing search warrants. One study estimates 40,000 such raids per year nationwide:

Continue reading →

FBI Pleads “Stop Filming Police! It’s Making Them Look Bad!”

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

James Corbett – For the first time in decades, violent crime is back on the rise in major urban centers across America. What’s the problem? Fed-induced recession driving people into desperate poverty? Media-hyped race baiting inciting social discord? The militarization of police and tightening of the police state noose? No, it’s smartphone cameras that are the culprit according to FBI director James Comey. James Corbett breaks down the propaganda and reminds you why the police are so scared of cameras.

Show Notes

policeSF Source The Corbett Report  Oct 2015

FBI Director James Comey blames citizens with cameras for increase in violent crime

Associated Press – Police anxiety in the era of ever-present cellphone cameras and viral videos partly explains why violent crime has risen in several large U.S. cities this year, FBI Director James Comey said Friday.

Comey told several hundred students during a forum at the University of Chicago Law School that it’s critical to do more to address a widening gulf between law enforcement and citizens in many communities, particularly African-Americans.

He said while there likely are multiple factors behind the spike in violence in cities, including Chicago, officers and others nationwide have told him they see “the era of viral videos” as a link.

“I don’t know whether this explains it entirely, but I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind blowing through American law enforcement over the last year, and that wind is surely changing behavior,” Comey said.

He added that some of the behavioral change in police officers has been for the good “as we continue to have important discussions about police conduct and de-escalation and the use of deadly force.” Continue reading . . .

[widget id=”text-44″]

The Root Of Police Militarization

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

“Ben Swann maintains that while Americans should be outraged at the idea of militarization, it should not be just because police show up in tanks to a protest. It should be because of the tactics that have been used by police for years, such as using battering rams to knock down people’s doors, and throwing stun grenades through windows, all for the sake of serving drug warrants.” – B Swann

MilitarizedPolice4“The militarization of America’s police forces has captured the nation’s attention, largely because of Ferguson, Missouri,” said Swann. “But what mainstream media has not told you, is how police forces got militarized in the first place, and why militarization is about a lot more than just military equipment.”

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during a confrontation in August. His death triggered protests, some of which led to rioting and looting.

Swann points out that what really “stunned the nation” was the way police responded to the protests. Rather than responding like a police force that intended to serve and protect, Ferguson police responded like a military unit, complete with armored vehicles and flash grenades. Swann said that for millions of Americans, “this was a stunning site on American streets.”

Swann said that while Benswann.com has been working to raise awareness about the militarization of police for over a year, “the rest of the media acted like they had no idea.”

The program ignored by the mainstream media is the 1033 program. Also called the Department of Defense Excess Property Program, this platform is used by police departments to obtain military equipment. Swann explains:

“It is a federal program that provides surplus DoD military equipment to state and local civilian law enforcement agencies for use in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations, and to enhance officer safety.”

While the 1033 program does provide armored vehicles and flash grenades, it also provides police departments with other emergency supplies that go beyond weaponry. Continue reading →

Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich ~ The Militarization of Law Enforcement in America: Blowback in Ferguson

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

“Gregory Foster, a former Army officer and West Point graduate who now teaches national security studies at the National Defense University in Washington said that the principle of civilian control of the military—an early building block of American democracy-  has been reversed and become the  civilian subjugation to the military.” S Sepahpour-Ulrich

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailThe fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager and the ensuing protests in Ferguson, Missouri has rocked America. Even the mainstream media with its aversion to the truth, has been forced to address the militarization of the police in America – albeit years too late.

This is a short call from informing the mainstream media that the country has been living under pseudo martial law for decades.

On April 13, 2013,  the ACLU (Shasta Chapter) invited me to be their keynote speaker to talk about government secrecy, drones and militarization of America.    The Ferguson shooting and its coverage in the media prompted me to highlight some of the points made during that talk as they relate to today’s events.

Historians and political scientists have warned about dangerous war fever sweeping the United States.  America’s entanglements overseas, its imperial ambitions, and the more recent “global war on terror”, a war of indefinite duration against an ill-defined shifting enemy, with no specific definition of victory,  poses a grave danger to the very character of American government and society, unraveling the fabric of the Constitution. Continue reading →