Communities Grow Weary of Militarized Police

RT Source

“That vehicle is made for war,” mentioned one commenter at the time. “Do not use my safety to justify that vehicle,” another one wrote. “The Salinas Police Department is just a bunch of cowards that want to use that vehicle as intimidation and to terrorize the citizens of this city.”

Has RT re-opened the Cold War style propaganda playbook? With the clarity of 20/20 hindsight, it's fairly apparent the Bush and Obama administrations sowed what we're reaping. Is taking notice of this enough to get our government to wake up and start fixing problems here at home? I recall a recent discussion which asked if ATS should discredit RT as a reliable source of information. The quoted story may be propaganda ... but the militarization of any agency outside the DoD truly is cause for alarm. I'm not quite ready to write RT off just yet.

Obama needs to remove his head from his third point of contact, because at this point Biden's starting to look better and better as a leadership choice. As far as I see it, if we let Putin give the proverbial lazy dog a few more swift kicks, he's going to be able to justify the rescue of the American people to the world's stage. Either way the POTUS has shown himself to be a lame Putin adversary and inadequate to the task of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with any other government leader. I've found myself wondering in quiet moments, if Putin and Obama may be in cahoots with one another.

Specific to the source article, I'm all for disarmament of police patrolmen, with the assurance they will be kept completely out of harm's way. Patrolmen need a whistle and a radio. Let detectives carry concealed. Call out a SWAT team only when the situation warrants it. The Storm Trooper vehicles can hardly be justified for use against the citizenry. If they're not for use against us, the reason for their retention should be clearly stated, and let the goalposts never be moved on the issue. The rationale as to why they were re-purposed to police departments falls apart ... when one considers the nukes Obama recently decommissioned weren't gift wrapped for police use as well.

reply to post by Snarl


Although I have given up on RT as an unbiased news organization, I believe in you and agree with you completely. These police forces aren't military and need to quit acting like they are. I exclude SWAT from this because they have their purpose. Maybe the police are just scared of retribution for the crimes some of them have committed against our citizens.

Even SWAT has to go.......at least stop using them to deliver warrants etc....

It is silly and over the top for local towns to have such vehicles. I laughed out loud at this.

But the articles RT chooses to highlight in order to portray the U.S. in a certain way is also interesting.

reply to post by Snarl


imho . . .

the growing "status quo" is just the beginning . . . the PTB

have reportedly planned that

All police will ultimately serve as judge, jury and executioners . . . IMMEDIATELY . . .

ANY AND ALL lawbreakers caught in the act will be immediately shot--disintegrated--instantly--to the basic elements with hardly even ash left.

I understand there has been some argument as to whether that's to occur also on the FIRST or 2nd traffic or parking ticket.

Welcome to the "brave" "new" world . . . as old as satanic ran Babylon. Nothing all that new about the looming world order . . . except, maybe, the new technologies involved in implementing and enforcing tyranny on an unprecedented scale.

No. I don't have a link on the factoid above. Sorry. Just one of those I've collected from 45 years of studying globalism.

is this thread about the militarization of our local and municipal police departments or yet Another angle in which we can inject rabid politicizing and attack Obama?

Kinda all over the map there....

reply to post by Snarl


I suspect that no news source is completely free of bias but it's become blatantly obvious that the lamestream media sure as hell is. I've seen and personally heard of far too many instances of excessive use of force by the police and other government agencies. By now, I'm sure that everyone here has become aware of the terrible significance of the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law back in the beginning days of 2012? I suspect that this trend WILL continue and quite possibly get far more blatant as time goes on. Has anyone noticed that in the last few months, the government has started to airing PSAs about preparing a go bag? I first noticed it a few months ago and now I hear that radio ad probably about 5-10 times a day. Coincidence? Maybe but I doubt it. I think it's a wise move for people to take a few precautions and start thinking about worse-case scenarios. Maybe the authorities know of a timeline we're unaware of? My personal belief is better to know or have something and NOT need it rather than vice versa. All I can say additionally on the subject is that when I hear about how IMMENSE our unfunded debt is in this country, I realize that to the best of my knowledge(:?, no country, empire or nation has survived such an ordeal without serious or potential fatal consequences. Too many of have been successfully brainwashed or distracted and I can't buy the notion that it's not premeditated. What are your thoughts on this matter?

I am not just wary, I am getting angry. Just how many fatal shootings by LEO's against people they could have just tackled instead? My last count it is over 50.

The latest video of the camper shot and killed pushed me over the top. It is one thing to kill a perp int he line of duty. It is completely another to say BOOYAH! when you drop him.

It seems the number of wanna be killer cops is starting to cast serious doubts of the legitimacy of any of them. Nothing would make me happier to see that POS yanked off the force.....

TXRabbit
is this thread about the militarization of our local and municipal police departments or yet Another angle in which we can inject rabid politicizing and attack Obama?

Kinda all over the map there....

My bad. You're not the only one I left confused. I didn't expect this thread would wind up in the Posse Comitatus forum. There are two areas tightly intertwined and I should have better articulated my position in the OP.

My central point was that the Russian is using his national media resources to poke a stick in our eye (even if that has been well earned). It hurts. And Putin will continue to do this, and continue to sack America's reputation in the eyes of other nations, until Obama does something right for a change.

Proposing a military action against Syria ... major political blunder. Healthcare reform ... total gaff.

These things are not small potatoes. What has he done right? What did the guy before him do right ... rid Iraqi hands of WMDs?

You see the next thing coming? Wait until they bring the solvency issue to the table and instill fear in the US dollar being continued as the world's reserve currency.

Putin is a pro ... and he is proving that in 'the way' that he is exploiting a history of weakness ... while making gains for Russia.

reply to post by 1FreeThinker

I think your fingers have found the pulse. Not sure whether the heartbeat is fast and thready or slowed to a point of being almost imperceptible.

Being in Korea, I've not yet heard a PSA promoting prepping to any degree. Are they gonna start airing commercials to 'Drop and Cover' in the months to come? LOL Being out of touch, the last government position on prepping seemed to be negatively biased. What's the source of these PSAs?

-Cheers

reply to post by Snarl


RT is biased sure, just like other media outlets. As long as we know their bias we can sift the facts easy enough. They're still a valid source IMO.

Been sick of the militarization of the police since it started back in the eighties with their super duper SWAT murder squads. SWAT needs to be disbanded, cops disarmed except maybe a sidearm and they require independent supervision. Also they need to give DHS or DoD all the military equipment back.

At this point in US history I've wondered if Russia is going to end up supplying equipment to the US freedom fighters when SHTF.

We have a police and fire super station about two miles from here, and I have to admit that I feel very safe.

What I worry more about than militarized police as far as equipment and weaponry is former military becoming police and responding as if they are still in the military. I'm not sure this is a wise thing and have mentioned it more than once here before. There are subtle and sometimes even psychological differences between policing a war zone and policing a civilian area, and I wonder if maybe the rise in incidents we're seeing might not be related. Are these incidents and this level of readiness increasing as law enforcement training becomes more like military training (in many cases they cross-train each other).

Anyway...for what it's worth. Something I'll just keep watching. It's not like even if they do keep an eye on this, I'll ever really know for sure.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


We can be certain many former military members become police. I bet the vet to not vet ratio is significant. Just how many I have no idea.

As I have said before: The militarization of domestic police forces is specifically designed to skirt Posse Comitatus. Military tactics equipment and training are not symbiotic with domestic policing.

reply to post by Mamatus

Yep. I really hope someone is considering this and keeping an eye on it. I have a gut feeling there is probably a correlation.

ETA: I'm also not saying that former military should never go into law enforcement...just that some pretty major reraining might be a good idea.

~Lucidity
reply to post by Mamatus

 

Yep. I really hope someone is considering this and keeping an eye on it. I have a gut feeling there is probably a correlation.

I don't know who is keeping an eye on much of anything. The automatic hero worship of former members of the military has reached laughable proportions. There's a couple of problems just under the surface there.

ETA: I'm also not saying that former military should never go into law enforcement...just that some pretty major reraining might be a good idea.

I'm not gonna pick here, but there are probably a Lot of better candidates than prior service staff ... especially MPs who are so accustomed to their military a-thor-i-tae. But, they still seem to be highly sought after by local LE administrators. Guys that are used to kicking in doors will do just that, because they've become accustomed to doing it. Is that really the best candidate for a job ... considering you might be the 'house next door' ... oops!

reply to post by Skyfloating

You probably already know this, but the standard response to this is that these are military surplus vehicles (and we all know the MIC makes way more than we need) and that the towns get them for almost nothing....just in case. And I have to admit a few of the Hummers came in pretty handy in rescuing stranded motorists during Atlanta's recent snow and ice events.

~Lucidity
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

You probably already know this, but the standard response to this is that these are military surplus vehicles (and we all know the MIC makes way more than we need) and that the towns get them for almost nothing....just in case. And I have to admit a few of the Hummers came in pretty handy in rescuing stranded motorists during Atlanta's recent snow and ice events.

Yep. They used words to make the easy sell. The vehicles were already bought and paid for once. What hadn't been concluded was their life-cycle maintenance costs. The military simply pawned that off on local communities and everybody was deafened by shouts of "new capability" and "free too!!" ... Never taking into account they were produced by the lowest bidder, have a laborious maintenance schedule, and replacement parts are outrageously priced.

I guess they can always dump 'em once the truth is realized ... but most likely, they'll continue to be maintained at taxpayer expense.

As you can see, I have no optimistic view of this 'deal' and I'm not trying to make this personal ... mostly commenting out loud.

Thanks, Lucidity!! -Cheers

reply to post by Snarl

The criminologist Peter Kraska has estimated that there are are somewhere between 50,000 and 80,000 SWAT raids per year now in America, and that number is likely growing. It’s past time for a public discussion about whether that sort of figure is appropriate and consistent with the values of a free society.

Cheye Calvo's July 2008 encounter with a Prince George's County, Maryland, SWAT team is now pretty well-known: After intercepting a package of marijuana at a delivery service warehouse, police completed the delivery, in disguise, to the address on the package. That address belonged to Calvo, who also happened to be the mayor of the small Prince George’s town of Berwyn Heights. When Calvo's mother-in-law brought the package in from the porch, the SWAT team pounced, forcing their way into Calvo's home. By the time the raid was over, Calvo and his mother-in-law had been handcuffed for hours, police realized they'd made a mistake, and Calvo's two black Labradors lay dead on the floor from gunshot wounds

www.washingtonpost.com...

Executive Summary

Americans have long maintained that a man’s home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing. Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.

These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they’re sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers. These raids bring unnecessary violence and provocation to nonviolent drug offenders, many of whom were guilty of only misdemeanors. The raids terrorize innocents when police mistakenly target the wrong residence. And they have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries, not only of drug offenders, but also of police officers, children, bystanders, and innocent suspects.

This paper presents a history and overview of the issue of paramilitary drug raids, provides an extensive catalogue of abuses and mistaken raids, and offers recommendations for reform.

object.cato.org...

For those who are uncomfortable with X military guys on the force I tend to disagree; it is more a matter of training and individual police department policy with regards to duty officers work.. I have a few friends who were X LEOs and one who is still working going on 30 years....... to hear their comments about the departments they once worked for is more disturbing to me than just about anything; not all bad but the change in attitude is there for real. The guy who is still working was told by one of his officer subordinates that all his friends were police officers and why did Lynn have friends outside the force..? This particular junior officer walks around puffed up with the extermination look on his face and yet the closest he ever came to being in the military was he might have looked at a book with pictures in junior college..? I just blow him off which I assume pisses him off. Always respectful but will call B.S. on some of his thoughts on aviation matters.

It is not just me as other friends of Lynn have mentioned it on more than one occasion and try an avoid being around Lynn while Mr. Puff is puffing around.. One bad egg? Nope there are others who exhibit the same attitude....

Lynn has had enough and will be retiring in 9 months.. He could join ATS and fit right in for he is not happy with some of the waste and department policies he has seen these last few years. But he is an honest cop who realizes without the uniform and the department behind him he is just another human being.

Another friend was a detective for many years and even though he is very tight lipped about certain things he is very concerned with the apparent direction law enforcement has taken these last few years... Like most he just keeps his head down and a low profile for he knows somethings have to play out before there is a change.

I do not have a crystal ball so I do not have a definitive answer to where all this is going to lead ? Maybe SWAT will do some headline raid which is wrong and the public outcry will be enough to rain them in and change when where and why they can be used... Or maybe all this build up is for when the dollar crashes, Fema camps are the only way to get a meal and a little gas..Probably just an easy way to keep the for profit prisons filled. Who the heck knows... I am lucky for all my contacts with LEOs have been proper and I have never felt abused.. But I am also aware there are plenty who can not say the same.. I do know a no knock raid because of a wrong address would certainly piss me off, no doubt...!
S&F my friend

reply to post by 727Sky

What's up, Sky? Thanks for your reply. It's well thought out and clearly conveyed.

Two things bother me about recruiting former Soldiers into law enforcement. One: they've been trained (actually ingrained) to keep their mouths shut, follow orders, and maintain the status quo. Two: they're dispassionate about killing once they've been in a fire fight or lose a couple of buddies to the enemy.

The latter concerns me tactically ... but the first one is the real problem.

I almost fell into that mould when I retired. I like to think I would have done well in that profession. 20/20 hindsight ... I'm glad I took another path, brother.

-Cheers

Snarl
I've found myself wondering in quiet moments, if Putin and Obama may be in cahoots with one another.

How about they are in cahoots with the same people? All the world's a stage!

As for RT, they are just propaganda of a different variety. What makes them any more credible than Fox News, MSNBC, or CNN?

The majority of news from all of them are purposefully spun the direction they want (or the government wants). At least with RT I feel I am getting something "different" because it doesn't have the US Gov't Artificial Sweetner logo stamped all over it. Or does it?

Seriously, it's painful to use RT as a news source because our own news agencies don't really report news properly.