Weapons of War On Our Streets: A Guide to the Militarization of America's Police

Ammo.com ^ | 7/21/2020 | Sam Jacobs

[ammodotcom]

The military is forbidden from enforcing the law in the U.S. But the police have become so militarized that there's hardly a distinction anymore. Any reasonable person could agree that sometimes a cop needs a machine gun – but when?

Read more about machine guns and the cops who wield them in Weapons of War On Our Streets: A Guide to the Militarization of America's Police.

[LegendHasIt]

WEAR THE DAMN MASK!!!! OR ELSE!!!!!

[Larry Lucido]

Not taking the click bait.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

A semi-automatic pistol is a "weapon of war." Or so Uncle Sam told me when he issued me a 1911 and then a 92FS.

The whole kerfluffle about the police spending money on surplus military equipment is a big joke. Most of it isn't weaponry even under the broadest definition, and the "tank-like vehicles" they get don't even have any weapons. They're for protection, not attack.

Oh...and the program under which the police get that gear makes it free. So they're not spending money on it anyway.

[algore]

Surplus weapons and mrads were not free, and i dont appreciate the waste of my tax dollars.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Thanks. This was a great article that was thoroughly researched with numerous links.

I'm usually not a fan of libertarian essays, but overly militarized police forces is something that both libertarians and conservatives need to oppose.

[laplata]

Wasn’t POS Obama behind the big militarization of the police?

[doorgunner69]

Any reasonable person could agree that sometimes a cop needs a machine gun

Is this some sort of sick liberal satire article?

Cops are barely proficient with the simple sidearms they are directed to carry.

[right way right]

Ammo.com sells ammunition.
Fair pricing but shipping kills it for me.
I still buy from them because, I can’t find what I need around here.

[familyop]

"But the police have become so militarized that there's hardly a distinction anymore."

That's based on appearances alone. There's a lot more to a combat soldier than a rifle.

[FreedomPoster]

I’ve challenged a Leftist or three advocating for defunding the police to tell me what percent of the Atlanta PD budget is for “weapons of war”.

“Well, it’s a lot.”

So how much is that? What percent?

“A lot.”

Now I’m not at all keen on the DHS programs that have been handing out Bearcats and MRAPs and such to local PDs like candy. This has been going on for more than a decade. But the idea that there’s a big effect on local PD budgets is ludicrous.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

The police aren’t using these weapons on the rioters, so what does it matter?

[Svartalfiar]

A big part of this is societal, with urban culture and the equivalent rise of the us vs them cop mentality. There’s definitely some cities / parts of cities that need a more militarized police approach. The problem is that’s a self-reinforcing cycle.

I’m not going into much detail here, but what we need to do is get cops back into the friendly neighborhood patrolman type. I bet dollars to donuts (yes, weak I know) that you could pick ANY, EVERY SINGLE ONE, police department in these US, and I bet less than 10% of their patrol force could name more than a couple of the cashiers/store owners/receptionists within their patrol area.

Dynamic entry / high-risk situations should be under the purview of the Sheriff’s department, or State troopers. There should be no SWAT teams in any police department, except MAYBE big cities like NYC, Dallas, Houston, LA, Chicago, etc, but ONLY with the permission and oversight of the Sheriff.

[ammodotcom]

It’s a tricky thing. Many cops are not part of the communities they’re policing, and in all fairness to the cops in many cases they’d never WANT to be a part of the communities they’re policing. But this necessarily perpetuates the vicious cycle you’ve just described.

[Svartalfiar]

It’s a tricky thing. Many cops are not part of the communities they’re policing, and in all fairness to the cops in many cases they’d never WANT to be a part of the communities they’re policing. But this necessarily perpetuates the vicious cycle you’ve just described.

Except being a patrolman in that area makes them a part of that community, whether they want to / think so or not.

If I was in any way in charge of a police department, knowing parts of their community would be a basic job requirement. Ghetto, gated, wherever they were assigned. The ONLY valid excuse would be if they were just hired or just transferred to a new AO.