And the mine-resistant armored battle-wagon make the martinet.
From Slate:
... As the New York Times notes, “The ubiquity of SWAT teams has changed not only the way officers look, but also the way departments view themselves. Recruiting videos feature clips of officers storming into homes with smoke grenades and firing automatic weapons.” Put simply, when you give anyone toys, you have to expect they’ll play with them.
That is how we get images like the ones in Ferguson, where police officers brandish heavy weapons and act as an occupying force. We should expect as much when we give police departments military weapons. Already—when it comes to predominantly black and brown communities—there’s a long-standing culture of aggressive, punitive policing. Add assault weapons and armored vehicles, and you have a recipe for the repressive, violent reactions that we see in Ferguson, and that are likely inevitable in countless other poor American neighborhoods.
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8 comments:
I thought Ferguson MO was a suburb of St. Louis, but the police there are wearing military jungle camo. Exactly how far has global warming gotten?
Those who were sentient back in the days of Hill Street Blues will remember Lt Howard Hunter of the tactical unit as a buffoon and his team as a gang of chuckleheads. Much has changed since 1980, and I blame Ronald Reagan.
2 good lines from a comment thread at Antiwar.com (no, I didn't write either of them)
"This is what the police are trained for. It's obvious they are well organized for this. Put all of them in a room and tell them to solve a crime, and most would have blank stares."
"If you hire Israelis to train your police, you must expect your people to be treated like Palestinians."
I'm just so shocked by all of this. On top of every other atrocity, just throwing reporters out of the area in clear violations of 1st Amendment rights? When did Missouri become Missouristan?
Just one Question;
All the tanks, massive range of guns, flak jackets, typical riot gear, snipers n top of tanks.
But why in hell are they wearing Camouflage?
Robt, as someone else mentioned in a twitter exchange, you dress for the job you want.
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/quizshow.php?title=cop-soldier&q=4&next=y
The only reliable way to tell them apart is age; the soldiers are younger.
-Doug in Oakland
I've wondered for a while what percentage of these policemen are vets from Afghanistan and Iraq? I'll bet it is pretty high and that the 'police' tactics they learned over there are being deployed here.
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