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Posted on 08/14/2014 3:26:11 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
I want the police to be better armed than the bad guys, but what exactly does that mean today?
Apparently it means the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security equip even the tiniest rural police departments with massive military vehicles, body armor and grenade launchers. The equipment is surplus from the long wars we fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To a hammer, everything resembles a nail. SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams were once used only in emergencies such as riots or robberies where hostages were taken. But today there are more than 50,000 "no-knock raids" a year.
It's not because crime got worse. There is less crime today. Crime peaked around 1990 and is now at a 40-year low. But as politicians keep passing new criminal laws, police find new reasons to deploy their heavy equipment.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Then people need to get out to their next city/township/county council meeting and ask some questions and make some demands if they don’t like the answers.
Progressives would not hesitate to use militarized police to suppress their opponents.
Progressives would throw conservatives into the cattle cars.
Agreed.
Liberals aren’t worried about it — they’re the ones doing it.
the ongoing criminalization of political differences.
It’s obviously a concern.
But by the same token, I know very well that there’s a 1000x more likely chance that I’ll be killed by some feral, doped-up street-animal trying to rob me or carjack me than by Mr. RoboCop.
I’m more concerned about punk “peaceful protesters” looting private citizens’ business with the press eggy them on.
Is that the gadgetry that’s the problem or the behavior?
Because blaming the gadgetry is a heck of a lot like liberals blaming guns when a criminal shoots somebody instead of blaming the behavior behind its use.
its not about the equipment its about the behavior.
Just as its not the guns fault if a criminal uses it to shoot someone.
I’d like to ask why are police so utterly timid about enforcing legitimate laws when black rioters break them.
If you or I use a gun irresponsibly, we go to jail. If the cops use an APC or flash-bang irresponsibly, they usually suffer no consequences. Add this to the “neat toy” factor, and all that military equipment becomes a solution in search of a problem.
The key words in your own sentence are "use irresponsibly"
Its not the gadget's fault its the person using it.
Just like its not the gun's fault, its the criminal using it.
A militarized Civilian Security Force that is just as well organized, just as well funded as the military will be used exactly in the manner you fear.
Why do you think the Tea Party and Conservatives are demonized like they are? Once a government and ruling class of a society demonize a group and segment of their population, without exception that leadership embarks on an effort to eradicate them.
And on this very board you have Conservatives rationalizing the need to have domestic law enforcement better equipped and armored with military grade hardware than combat troops we sent into Iraq.
What they support today in putting down a bunch of feral gibmedats with a military force, will end up being used on them tomorrow by those who will declare them a threat to the state.
What they support today in putting down a bunch of feral gibmedats with a military force, will end up being used on them tomorrow by those who will declare them a threat to the state.
Exactly!
I know Progressives who would have felt at home working for Hitler or Stalin.
We’re no longer in Ronald Reagan’s America.
At this point does it matter? People engaged in this “behavior” have all gadgetry they could possibly need to put their police state into place.
We are talking about a reckless government giving itself unlimited power and doing everything it can to makes itself invincible. We are not discussing an individual’s actions. Both the state’s personnel and it’s weaponry are a problem.
Why do cops even have APCs and flash-bangs? Those are tools of the soldier, not of the police officer. Perhaps I should say, those are tools of oppressors, not of peace officers - and we know which we have by the tools they choose to employ.
There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.
(Source: Battlestar Galactica)
Where are the stories that we should be afraid of the ferals?
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