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Two Years of Data On What Military Equipment the Pentagon Gave To Local Police
v3rgEz writes: Wondering how the St. Louis County Police ended up armed with surplus military gear, and what equipment other departments have? A FOIA request at MuckRock has turned up every item given to local law enforcement under the Pentagon's 1022 program, the mechanism by which local law enforcement can apply for surplus or used military gear.
If we have this much surplus, clearly we're buying too much. I know that if I find myself giving away cans of green beans, I make sure I don't buy a whole pallet the next time I'm at Costco.
Perhaps, but unlike the military you don't have some Senator from a state with a lot of green bean farms and canning plants telling you that you must purchase pallets of green beans regardless of whether you want or need them.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
When you give the police weapons of war then they will find someone to go to war with. Unfortunately, that is the general populace.
equipping all of their officers with riot shields/assault rifles, body armor, & armored vehicles they've ceased to be "peace officers".
Indeed, one of the first acts in the Irish/UK peace process in N Ireland was a military order for all UK soldiers to remove their helmets while on street patrol as a gesture of trust. The simple act of removing a helmet requires a hell of a lot more courage than shooting into a crowd with rubber bullets from atop of armored vehicles. Sure, the macho swat stuff must remain an option for serious incidents, but calling in a swat team with riot gear and snipers for a routine suburban drug bust is the hallmark of a coward.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Now police's only tool are military-grade weapons, intended to kill.
And sometimes the situation changes how people is, like in this Standford prison experiment
Add to that how police cover up miscarriages and that you can't film the police, is not just who watches the watchers, but who watches the watchers that have military-grade weapons in the streets and are abusing of them.
When you give everyone guns they will find someone to shoot. And if you listen to the NRA, then you know that just isn't true. So your statement can't be true either.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
Private citizens are under far more accountability and surveillance than law enforcement.
Actually, the drug addicts are the low hanging fruit, and the war on drugs is precisely why the US has imprisoned a far higher percentage of its population than any other first world nation.