There is no place in US law enforcement for military equipment and tactics.
He does a good job of balancing protecting the citizens and becoming a police state.
Note, Tom also has an interesting website.
Cowboy perspective.
Yes. These are the trappings of the cheap tyrants, the tinpot dictators.
Our ancestors didn't fight the Revolution to end up being submissives in some sick dominance game that a bunch of boys with too much TV time want to engage in.
And that takes us to the other point. In the United States, the People are Sovereign. It's the central point of the legal system. Not a King, or his Aristocracy, supported by their enforcers.
We don't have to live with this. We can and should vote it out of existence.
If things get so bad that a military force is needed, then there are State militias which are authorized or use of the National Guard. If things are that bad now that the police departments claim they need to do this, then it's already past the point where they should be involved - it should be handed off to the military.
Personally I think that's true on the border. But not in the interior. Yet.
Really?
For the same reason bandits wear masks.
Hide Identity
That way, the ferals won't riot. Right?
5.56mm
why do cops need full-auto, or bayonets, or tracked vehicles...?
My experience in the military and in law enforcement has been a bit different than Tom’s. I too served in the Marine Corps, where I earned a 3rd award Expert rifleman’s badge and graduated from 2nd Mar Div Scout/Sniper school.
I also attended a Law Enforcement sniper school at Camp LeJeune where the Marine Instructors treated us very well and didn’t call us ‘wanna-be’s’ or other derogatory names. At least not to our face, which I suspect any Marine worth his salt would have done if he had a problem with us.
We conducted ourselves in a professional manner and they did as well. We must have done something right because we went out drinking with them several times. Some of them even asked us about getting hired at our PD after they were discharged.
I served on my Dept. Swat team for 15 years along side USMC Vietnam Veterans and veterans of the Gulf War.
I understand the ‘militarization’ of the police is a popular topic right now and Tom is giving his opinion. He has some points that are on target but others; not so much.
Bump for a very useful article. I’m sick of cops dressing and acting like thugs. Thank God we dont’t have these thugs in my local town. They exist at the county level though.
A word to all cops who wear masks. The mask makes you a target. That’s all you are.