Mainstream Media Discovers Militarized Policing

Hey! That looks like a war zone!

To some, the events in Ferguson highlight a growing danger.

"Police militarization has been among the most consequential and unnoticed developments of our time," The Huffington Post's Washington Bureau Chief Ryan Grim said in a statement decrying the arrest of one of the site's reporters.

Just weeks ago, the American Civil Liberties Union issued an extensive report on the issue. "American policing has become unnecessarily and dangerously militarized, in large part through federal programs that have armed state and local law enforcement agencies with the weapons and tactics of war, with almost no public discussion or oversight," the report said.

Comments

[Jose Chung]

But the official police account of what happened has not yet come in.

They were still in the process of manufacturing one.

[Sevo]

..."and unnoticed developments of our time,"...

The jokes write themselves.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Well if libertarians would stop being silent on all this stuff maybe it would have been noticed? You ever think about that? Huh?

[AlgerHiss]

Radley Balko was so far ahead of the curve on this issue. His phone should be on fire, as he is truly an expert on this issue.

Take the quiz: Is it a cop, or soldier?

http://www.theagitator.com/201.....-the-quiz/

[Aresen]

As I expected, there was absolutely no reference to Balko's work on Police Militarization in the article.

Also, the comments on the linked article are thoroughly depressing.

[Jesus H. Christ]

Balko was on Ronan Farrow today, which is a nice development.

[XM]

Militarization of police wouldn't be an issue if they used their equipment appropriately. I wouldn't mind de facto soldiers responding to armed robberies. Or to riots that go out of hand.

The cop who shot the kid probably wasn't in his riot gear. If you have a gun, you already have enormous advantage over someone who's unarmed. Deranged shooters can eliminate a dozen lives before the militarized police can do a thing.

This is why I don't get people who aren't against the police using (unarmed) drones. If they can track the suspect, the police will have less reasons to raid random wrong houses. They might be able to see if the suspect has any weapons - from afar.

[XM]

who are against

[mad.casual]

Militarization of police wouldn't be an issue if they used their equipment appropriately.

Right, choking people to death for trafficking cigarettes is an equipment malfunction.

If they can track the suspect, the police will have less reasons to raid random wrong houses.

They have very little reason to raid the right houses and the fact that they get the wrong house so frequently is a strong indicator that their ability to use drones appropriately might not be on par with your mental impressions.

[mad.casual]

I heard the HuffPo journalist recanting the story on NPR this morning. The he certainly criticized the military nature of police work, but he spent last 2-3 min. of the interview defend the tough situation that the police are in.

It was like listening to a battered wife, almost Stockholm Syndrome-like.