In the United States, the police have become increasingly militarized over the last decade and various police departments across the US have outfitted themselves with the sort of equipment that you'd find on the streets of a battle zone over in the Middle East.
They've been able to access the goods thanks to the 1033 program through the Defense Department and over $450 million worth of equiptment has already been transferred to police agencies in the country.
The war on terror has contributed greatly to the influx of this sort of equipment and weaponry that many police departments around the US have received.
And we have seen the police increasingly opt for using military-grade equipment in order to perform their duties on the streets of the US. This includes things like body armor, attack helicopters, grenade launchers, camouflage uniforms, and more. And now the current administration has signaled their interest to even further beef-up the militarization transformation of the police in the country.
Legal experts, civil liberties and human rights advocates, and even ex law enforcement professionals, have for years now been trying to warn the public about the dangers of this transformation taking place. It might not be within the best interest of the public to transform the traditional position of peace officers, into a more intimidating militaristic appearance.
Police power has been under scrutiny especially in recent years and along with that discussion we've seen the push for police cameras as just one possible solution to the problem. And many members of the public have expressed their discontent about seeing the police using common military weapons and equipment when they are conducting their everyday duties.
It used to be that we only saw the biggest cities in America would have their own S.W.A.T teams but today you can find S.W.A.T teams at almost any police department that you go to. And these teams are frequently deployed onto the streets of the US for a myriad of minor operations and what used to be used as a last-resort in highly dangerous situations has now become routine procedure.
As the police departments have been beefing themselves up over the past decade or more, and enjoying the overflow of military-grade weapons and equipment coming back from the war on terror, it starts to look as if law enforcement in the US are getting ready to fight some enemy. But what enemy?
Who do they think they need all of these S.W.A.T teams for? Despite the frequent fear-mongering that the television delivers, violent crime in the US has been on the decline over the last several decades. Meaning that there is no justification to warrant this militarized expansion of the police.
Some reports suggest that in 2016, that many areas saw an increase in robbery, homicide, and aggravated assault, but the violence that is conducted is often attributed to the drug war and ongoing gang violence. If the state wants to decrease that violence then they should look to end the drug war.
Most importantly, we see that the public's perception of crime doesn't honestly align with the data and people believe that there is much more of a danger and threat than there truly is.
Under traditional rule of law, the police are ideally tasked with the position of being a peace officer, the goal is to protect citizens and see that justice is carried out according to due process. Justice within this process is founded upon the notion that any and all accused parties are to be perceived innocent until proven guilty. It's not innocent until a Youtube video comes out or innocent until some group takes credit, or innocent until things get really complicated, it's innocent until proven beyond any reasonable doubt--via evidence--to be guilty.
Yet, we see that more and more today this isn't the case and the police look upon the public as if every single one of us is suspect and/or guilty. And we have the media pushing a narrative that seeks to decide the innocence or guilt in many cases, before anyone has even stepped foot into a courtroom.
The militarization of the police could be viewed as a risk to liberty for Americans because of how the equipment seems to be used so carelessly in many circumstances. To improve matters, the police should be trying to restore their reputation with the public and working to build relationships with them and trying to earn back the trust. And further militarizing themselves doesn't seem like the best approach to go about doing that.
Pics:
Pixabay
John Cole via pinterest.com/buddyhuggins/militarization-of-americas-police-force/
Markus Magnusson via speakgif.com/swat-by-markus-animated-gif/
Pew Research Center via pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/21/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/ft_17-02-15_crime_310px/
AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty via Business Insider
Sources:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/28/16214600/trump-police-military-sessions
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/what-caused-the-crime-decline/477408/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/is-violence-in-america-going-up-or-down/491384/
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/how-the-war-on-terror-has-militarized-the-police/248047/
http://time.com/4651122/homicides-increase-cities-2016/
http://www.businessinsider.com/aclu-report-on-police-militarization-2014-8