I have been thinking about this for a little while now, but assumed if I put something out like this I would be rabidly flamed. Police have always been paramilitary, even their ranks are taken from the military. In fact, a lot of cops are former military, and carry the same deep respect for their fellow Americans as they did when they served. Back around the turn of the 20th century, cops were arming themselves with everything the gangsters had. They had fully auto Thompsons, and a host of other weapons that should have been alarming to the public. Times are changing fast, as demonstrated by all the discussion over what authority, or access cops should have over electronic media, and some seem to think cops should still be using a cheap ball-point pen and a sheet of carbon paper. Really, how many of us have ever seen cops armed with the equipment we are seeing in these photos? Cops prepare for worst case scenarios, and they should. I think the armored vehicles are a little over the top, but if that vehicle is the key that provides them the access to rescue people in a terrorist attack, then so be it. Certain elements in our society now believe they have the right, whenever they are offended, to take to the street, and disrupt the lives of every other citizen, and peace through strength doesn’t just apply to foreign policy.
Ummmm - you have to stop reading Obama's Palace Guard media.
I go to the Brit paper websites. They don't get the memo to "suppress" photos of the militarized American police.
I've been posting Pretend Sojer photos on FR for a year or two now.