Cops in Camouflage! WTF?

Hrm, since there were two groups, one in cammo the other in swat black, I would guess it was probably a training exercise, possibly between two different police forces. That would give reason for the person with the camera to document things for later playback and use.

All of the cars there were local cars, though. Maybe a few plain cars. It's a small lot. But yeah, I suppose it could be swat, training policemen to be swat too. Maybe the whole police force is swat. It just feels weird to see police dressed in military attire in the neighborhood, with people all around, between the post office, bank, hardware store, grocery store, etc. It's a strange place to do training, or so it would seem. I mean, it sure did feel like a military presence. It's not something I'd ever seen before. It's not just the fact that they were dressed that way, but also the location. Maybe I hadn't explained that part very well. I apologize.

I understand where Saytr is coming from. Satyr, I also have lived in small towns. Many, many cops, be they Sheriffs or Police have visions of being an elite unit. I remember a a video of some local sheriffs here in North Carolina getting ready to raid a place, a reporterette was present with a camera crew. The fat overweight commander of the group was pointing at a blackboard and said "Wat we hav heur is a tactical sichya'shon" They were all in camo or black outfits, motley array of web gear and helmets. It was so pathetic and funny I started laughing, but the fact is these people have the ability to kill you and get away with it is scary to me. I think the possibility of a "police state" and the ever watchful eye is something that needs due attention. I personally think that camo and cops don't go together, even though more than a few cops are wannabe Seals. The worst are the SWAT guys from podunk towns.

They get fully automatic weapons and assault gear from the money they get seizing peoples homes and cars because of crimes/drugs. They buy all the gadgets and then look for ways to play with them.

I am a conservative and I have a good deal of respect for law-enforcement and what they do. But, this kind of gear on small town Cops is what makes people fear authority and for good reason.

Variable


[Edited on 5/6/2004 by Variable]

you are all missing the point, they are cops. they are standing behind a coffee house. what do cops eat while drinking their coffee? DONUTS. maybe the distributor of the donuts for this coffee place was late and the cops got mad, got in their gear and wanted to take down the store but at the last minute the delivery came and everyone was happy.

Satyr,
It may be possible that the officers pictured were assembling before a raid on a marijuana farm. Often growers plant crops in large swaths of forest. In fact, in some of the national forestlands in the north west, the national gaurd has been used to ferret out these elicit farms. Sometimes they use helicopters to find these plantings, but at this time of year, it would be next to impossible to find the plants from the air. Thus the officers would be forced to search the area on foot, hence the woodland camo.

Obviously, one can't say for sure just by the pictures you posted. But as you can see from the ideas posted so far, it's not necessarliy some nefarious NWO plan.

Satyr,

Police departments all over the nation have received huge infusions of cash to arm up and become tactical forces. Some of the funding has come out of 911 initiatiives, others from homeland security and congressional funding of bills.

Get used to the sight. Soon to be all over america, I fear. Patriot Act II in action. Scary stuff.

rad

i agree with variable. ive seen many small cities act like their an elite force and basically do whatever they please. pretty gnarl.

My guess is that they are some kind of Special Response Team, whether that be SWAT, EOD, ERT, HRT, CBRIR, I don't know. But I doubt it has anything to do with the military. Police forces conduct realistic training simulations on a regular basis. It's nothing to be worried about. In fact, you should be grateful...


Mr. M

Originally posted by Cypher
Satyr,
It may be possible that the officers pictured were assembling before a raid on a marijuana farm. Often growers plant crops in large swaths of forest. In fact, in some of the national forestlands in the north west, the national gaurd has been used to ferret out these elicit farms. Sometimes they use helicopters to find these plantings, but at this time of year, it would be next to impossible to find the plants from the air. Thus the officers would be forced to search the area on foot, hence the woodland camo.

Obviously, one can't say for sure just by the pictures you posted. But as you can see from the ideas posted so far, it's not necessarliy some nefarious NWO plan.

Good theory, but this is Minnesota. I guarantee nothing has been growing until very recently. We just saw spring thaw. But they were far too casual looking to be doing anything but training, IMO.

Originally posted by radstar
Satyr,

Police departments all over the nation have received huge infusions of cash to arm up and become tactical forces. Some of the funding has come out of 911 initiatiives, others from homeland security and congressional funding of bills.

Get used to the sight. Soon to be all over america, I fear. Patriot Act II in action. Scary stuff.

rad

See, that's what I mean! What in the hell is the difference between cops trained and dressed like military, and actual real military patrolling the streets? Either way, it sure looks and feels like a police state, doesn't it? They're creating a new military establishment to enforce our civilian laws, apparently.

Originally posted by topsecretombomb
i agree with variable. ive seen many small cities act like their an elite force and basically do whatever they please. pretty gnarl.

Yes, I agree. It's not uncommon to see a crapload of cop cars on the scene, just to pull one car over. These guys are bored, obviously. I mean, just a DUI might dispatch 5 cruisers to the scene.

Originally posted by StarChild
In fact, you should be grateful...

I don't like cops, especially gung ho cops. They've done nothing but hassle me and over-react, in my experiences. Actually, my uncle was shot in the back, when I was young, by a gung ho cop. He was already handcuffed too. I guess I might be a tad biased, but I really fear "good cops" more than "bad guys".

[Edited on 5-7-2004 by Satyr]

Originally posted by Satyr
Yes, I agree. It's not uncommon to see a crapload of cop cars on the scene, just to pull one car over. These guys are bored, obviously. I mean, just a DUI might dispatch 5 cruisers to the scene.

This is so true! I can't help but laugh when I see multiple police vehicles pulling over a little old lady that exceeded the speed limit by 10mph.

I completely understand your uneasiness about these camo-cops. I would have walked over and asked a few questions. I'm so damn bothersome!

Thanks for sharing these pictures with us.

Looks to me like it is some kind of SWAT team that is practicing.

Most likely it is for CQB based on how they are dressed out.

Also, one of the pictures shows someone who is filming what they are doing. SWAT teams do that all of the time so that they can critique themselves after the training is over.

Originally posted by Bangin
I would have walked over and asked a few questions. I'm so damn bothersome!

Frankly, I have as little to do with them as possible. I don't want to give them any reason to be annoyed by me. That way, if they happen to see me in less preferable circumstances, they won't crucify me. I've found out, first hand, that it's best not to give them any reason to mess with you. They're bored, angry, and gung ho. That's a bad combo, in my book. Don't stir up the bees nest, if you know what I mean.

Originally posted by COOL HAND
Most likely it is for CQB based on how they are dressed out.

Also, one of the pictures shows someone who is filming what they are doing. SWAT teams do that all of the time so that they can critique themselves after the training is over.

What's "CQB"? I'm not sure why they were filming that part, since they just seemed to be standing around talking. A few were roaming the street for awhile. They sure looked out of place.

Ah, NM....Close Quarters Battle.

[Edited on 5-7-2004 by Satyr]

Originally posted by Satyr
It's very weird. This is a small town, and it appeared that every single cop on the force was there, before. Even if it is training, what in the hell are they training to do? Isn't anything that big the military's job?

Maybe this website will answer some of your questions, notice that is was written BEFORE 9-11-2001

Seattle Weekly (US), May 11 - 17, 2000


"You can't camouflage the military-cop convergence"

www.agitprop.org.au...

And CQB stands for Close Quarters Battle

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by NetStorm]

Originally posted by NetStorm
Maybe this website will answer some of your questions, notice that is was written BEFORE 9-11-2001

Seattle Weekly (US), May 11 - 17, 2000


"You can't camouflage the military-cop convergence"

www.agitprop.org.au...

And CQB stands for Close Quarters Battle

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by NetStorm]

Exactly! That's my point! There does appear to be a convergence happening, doesn't there? So, when the cops look and act just like military, just what is the difference?

Originally posted by Satyr

Originally posted by NetStorm
Maybe this website will answer some of your questions, notice that is was written BEFORE 9-11-2001

Seattle Weekly (US), May 11 - 17, 2000


"You can't camouflage the military-cop convergence"

www.agitprop.org.au...

And CQB stands for Close Quarters Battle

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by NetStorm]

Exactly! That's my point! There does appear to be a convergence happening, doesn't there? So, when the cops look and act just like military, just what is the difference?

It's called intimidation.
It's more intimidating to see a guy dressed in fatigues and helmet rushing you than a guy in a blue-white/green-grey whatever color uniform

Here read this

www.cato.org...

I know in Colombia they do it, because you would never know if they were Cops or Military..they look the same

Originally posted by NetStorm
Here read this

www.cato.org...

I know in Colombia they do it, because you would never know if they were Cops or Military..they look the same

Whoa! So this really is a planned convergence! I can't read all of that now, but I will when I get home from work. Thanks for the links. Very interesting, and somewhat scary, stuff.

Oh the times they are a changin'.

Satyr these pictures worry me too, i cant make out any firearms in the photos can you tell me if there were firearms visible because shouldnt weapons used for training 'rifles' have the fittings on the end to stop the cardboard from the blanks hitting you in the face/eyes.

I dont see any yellow or orange fittings anywhere, i know pistols dont have them but i would imagine submachine guns and rifles have to have them.. i dont see them which means you can probably rule them out as training..

Originally posted by Satyr
...when the cops look and act just like military, just what is the difference?

The difference would be the mission. The mission of the military is to fix and destroy the enemy. The mission of a police force is to enforce laws.

A few things I noticed in those pictures...

Woodland camo suggests to me that this is a relatively poor police unit, as woodland camo is so widely used that it can usually be picked up for free by police, if they look around.

The guy standing in the back with the white T-shirt and the black helmet is probably the new guy that they didn't have a BDU top or camo cover for his helmet. That's a question right there, though. Why would a police force want camo covers? Police aren't going to be sticking foliage in their helmets to raid a drug house. A likely explanation for that could be that there is an ex-Army police captain that insists on the camo cover for no other reason than the connotation a camo-less helmet carries.

The guy with the ball cap instead of the helmet is either a trainer, or some guy that just thinks he's the badass of the group and so uniform standards do not apply to him. If this is the case, he's probably the guy that's always kissing the captain's ass that you see in the movies. There's always one of those guys.

The guy with the full black cotton hood is a poser. What the hell is that guy going to do with that hood on? It's training, fella... Relax.

As for the group itself...

It's likely that whatever they were training for that day, they no longer remember how to do, and probably didn't shortly after they left the training area. The person doing the training was most likely incompetent as well. I'm just talking statistical odds here. Cops aren't very good, in general, tactically, unless they are part of a real swat team.

Why they would train in that part of town? So they could be able to respond most efficiently to any call they might get. Was that area generally in the center of the town where you live? Another question... How long were you observing these cops? 10 minutes? 5? It looks to me like they are either reading, or using a small piece of equipment with a display and buttons.

Originally posted by The Blade Runner
Satyr these pictures worry me too, i cant make out any firearms in the photos can you tell me if there were firearms visible because shouldnt weapons used for training 'rifles' have the fittings on the end to stop the cardboard from the blanks hitting you in the face/eyes.

I dont see any yellow or orange fittings anywhere, i know pistols dont have them but i would imagine submachine guns and rifles have to have them.. i dont see them which means you can probably rule them out as training..

To answer both of your questions, I saw no weapons. Nor did I see any actual training going on. I do think they had their side arms. They do have automatic weapons, though. I live very close to the rifle range they practiced at when they got them. You could hear them going crazy with them, of course. I don't know if they carry the assault rifles with them in the cruisers.

I only observed them for maybe 10 minutes. They were there for a long time, actually. When I got home, my stepdad was there, and he said he saw them there quite a bit earlier, so they'd been there for quite awhile, apparently. And like I said, I went back and some of them had dispersed by then. There were alot more. I couldn't help but think I was pretty damn safe speeding home that day, since every cop appeared to be there. And yes, it was the middle of town, pretty much. Not in the housing area, but in the strip mall area right down the street. You know...surrounded by neighborhoods. There are many more private places they could've chosen to do this, IMO. I mean, why not a park, or something?

A Park is a private place now?....You said it yourself...its a small town...maybe they dont have the facilities for such a training session in such a town...and that woman with the camera...it looks like she's filming the training...possibly for future officers to observe...People have no reason to fear cops...this isnt the 60's...I dont know if yall realize it...but a cop will be crucified a hell of alot faster then any perp will...the public loves to read about "corrupt" cops...when in reality...its usually less then 1% of every police force thats corrupt....thats lower then any job you can think of...even priests...and for what most of them (especially in larger citys) get paid...that numbers AMAZING....