Law enforcementThe militarization of local police
The killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old African American by a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, and the use by the Ferguson police of armored personnel carriers, machine-guns on tripods, stun grenades, and other military gear in a heavy-handed effort to disperse demonstrators protesting the killing, raised anew the question of the adoption of military equipment by local police departments. Critics say that more and more police departments now resemble military units, and that military gear is used in cases where it should not – as was the case in a small Florida town in 2010, when officers in SWAT gear drew out their guns on raids on barbershops that mostly led to charges of “barbering without a license.”
The killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old African American by a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, and the use by the Ferguson police of armored personnel carriers, machine-guns on tripods, stun grenades, and other military gear in a heavy-handed effort to disperse demonstrators protesting the killing, raised anew to question of the adoption of military equipment by local police departments.
Since the early 1990s, the Pentagon has transferred $4.3 billion worth of military equipment to local and state agencies. The gear being sent to local police includes planes, helicopters, armored vehicles, grenade launchers, assault rifles, bullet-proof helmets, night-vision goggles, and more. A few sheriff departments ordered tanks.
Critics say that more and more police departments now resemble military units, and that military gear is used in cases where it should not – as was the case in a small Florida town in 2010, when officers in SWAT gear drew out their guns on raids on barbershops that mostly led to charges of “barbering without a license.”
In the last two years, the Homeland Security News Wire has published several articles on the issue, which some observers describe as the militarization of the police. Here is a sample:
- “Pentagon’s excess equipment makes local police resemble military units,” HSNW, 20 June 2014
- “DOD policy drives militarization of local police departments,” HSNW, 14 October 2013
- “DHS-funded police gear blurs line between crime-fighting and war-fighting,” HSNW, 19 April 2013
- “ACLU looks into the use of military technology by local law-enforcement,” HSNW, 8 March 2013
- “In Keene, N.H., locals oppose military equipment for police,” HSNW, 17 February 2012
- “Georgia police gets military-grade weapons,” HSNW, 1 February 2013
