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Rise of the Warrior Cop: How America's Police Forces Became Militarized
FuzzNugget writes "An awakening piece in the Wall Street Journal paints a grim picture of how America's police departments went from community officers walking the beat to full-on, militarized SWAT operations breaking down the doors of non-violent offenders. From the article: 'In the 1970s, there were just a few hundred [raids] a year; by the early 1980s, there were some 3,000 a year. In 2005, there were approximately 50,000 raids.' It goes on to detail examples of aggressive, SWAT-style raids on non-violent offenders and how many have ended in unnecessary deaths. Last year, after a Utah man's home was raided for having 16 small marijuana plants, nearly 300 bullets in total were fired (most of them by the police) in the ensuing gunfight, the homeowner believing he was a victim of a home invasion by criminals. The U.S. military veteran later hanged himself in his jail cell while the prosecution sought the death sentence for the murder of one officer he believed to be an criminal assailant. In 2006, a man in Virginia was shot and killed after an undercover detective overheard the man discussing bets on college football games with buddies in a bar. The 38-year-old optometrist had no criminal record and no history of violence. The reports range from incredulous to outrageous; from the raid on the Gibson guitar factory for violation of conservational law, to the infiltration of a bar where underage youth were believed to be drinking, to the Tibetan monks who were apprehended by police in full SWAT gear for overstaying their visas on a peace mission. Then there's the one about the woman who was subject to a raid for failing to pay her student loan bills. It's a small wonder why few respect police anymore. SWAT-style raids aren't just for defense against similarly-armed criminals anymore; it's now a standard ops intimidation tactic. How much bloodshed will it take for America to realize such a disproportionate response is unwarranted and disastrous?"
First things first- what does this have to do with technology? Having said that, let's deal with the rest. The answer to why police have become more militaristic is because criminals have become more murderous against cops. I'll be the first to agree that overwhelming force has been used in many inappropriate situations, but cops are humans who want to go home alive at the end of shift. They are tired of being shot at and, simy put, there is safety in numbers. Lest you question my credibility, I'm a medically retired cop (http://www.heroholsters.com/about-our-company.html) who was shot in the line of duty while investigating a massive marijuana grow(I don't want to hear the pro-weed arguments... It's still illegal in ohio). I was alone. We don't have huge SWAT teams here. If we had the numbers and the airplanes (or drones- there argue about that one) the odds are I would have a whole body and still be investigating major crimes. My bottom line is this, until you've put your life on the line on a daily basis, you can't understand why cops or soldiers do what they do. I'm not saying you shouldn't question it, that is the American way, but at least try to get beyond yourself and truly think about it a second. (Posted from my phone, paragraph breaks don't seem to work)
It will continue to increase as long as there is a chance citizens are armed with assault rifles and such guns. Notice how swat usage skyrockets within a decade of the US Army replacing the M14 with the M16, a true assault rifle. The Vietnam war was the age of the full auto assault rifle... the iconic M16 and AK-47. "SWAT-style raids aren't just for defense against similarly-armed criminals anymore" With the sheer number of raids occurring these days, there will be some cases that it was overkill or even completely unjustified. Problem is that more and more people have access to military grade weapons and an attitude of the constitutional given right to have and use those weapons, police have to assume that under higher risk situations, the chance of these criminals having an AK-47 or hell a M82 is a lot higher. When the 2nd amendment was adopted, people were carrying muskets around. They were slow to load, highly inaccurate, but devastating when on target. Todays 'arms' are highly refined killing machines that can practically fire off hundreds of rounds a minute (theoretical is 875-1000 rpm for the M16) vs the 3 a minute of a musket. A musket was a deterrent in a time when hacking and stabbing with a sword in battle was still common. A modern assault rifle is a proper killing machine. Even hand guns are much more effective than a musket of 2nd amendment vintage. The law was written 222 years ago... it did not have such modern weapons in mind, and is horribly out of date. tl;dnr - Excessive swat use stems directly from the right to possess military grade assault rifles.