Same here.
As for militarization of the police, it is ridiculous for every Mayberry to have armored equipment and a SWAT group.
However, as one can see in Ferguson, it was completely necessary. Nobody goes to a riot armed with a handgun. There were snipers, molotov cocktails, thugs throwing bricks. Why wouldn’t the cops have heavy duty gear and vehicles? This is a totally different scenario.
I doubt the need for a lot of departments to be heavily militarized. That being said, I think a lot of the looters and arsonists should have been shot.
What is the job of the police ? To protect & serve the rights of the citizens .
What is the job of the military ? To fight/kill the enemies of the nation state.
These are entirely different jobs with entirely different mindsets.
When you try to make the police the military the police tend to view the citizen as enemy of the state & themselves as being able to use whatever force against whoever they please with no consequences .
This is not a good thing as it will lead to more riots with more death & destruction & in the in between riots time YOU could very easily find yourself being collateral damage to a militarized police.