Posted on 07/22/2020 7:29:07 AM PDT by RandFan
In a free society, citizens should be able to easily distinguish between civilian law enforcement tasked with keeping the peace in our communities and the armed forces tasked with protecting our country from foreign adversaries.
Unfortunately, thanks to the federal government flooding our neighborhoods with billions of dollars of military equipment and property over the years, the line between peace officer and soldier of war has become increasingly blurry.
Police officers have an incredibly difficult and often thankless job where they lay their lives on the line every day. Without the rule of law, a civilized society cannot exist, and our officers deserve our gratitude. The horrific actions of a few bad actors should not erase all the good done by the vast majority of these brave and hardworking men and women.
But as the federal government has enabled our local police to become more and more militarized, it has placed them in greater danger by eroding the community trust crucial to doing their jobs well.
While I respect the determination to preserve law and order, sending in federal forces to quell civil unrest in Portland further distorts the boundaries, results in more aggression (including pepper-spraying and repeatedly striking a Navy veteran whose injured hand will need surgery), and has led to reports we should never hear in a free country: federal officials, dressed in camouflage, snatching protesters away in unmarked vehicles.
Sending the feds into Chicago won't make the situation there any better, either.
Nothing you'll read here excuses the actions of those who have destroyed lives and property in a mockery of peaceful protest—actions I have condemned. But many of us have been inspired by seeing protesters confronting these rioters, making the difference between righteous cause and opportunistic destruction even more stark.
Restoring lost trust is essential to reducing the tension and returning to peace. This means stopping the federal militarization of our local law enforcement and keeping federal agents and troops on the national posts where they best serve our country.
According to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), which operates within the Department of Defense, "More than $7.4 billion worth of property" has been transferred to law enforcement through the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) program. DLA also reveals that "as of June 2020, there are around 8,200 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies from 49 states and four U.S. territories participating in the program."
Back in 2014, NPR reported the federal government had sent out 79,288 assault rifles, 205 grenade launchers, and 11,959 bayonets from 2006–2014.
Yahoo recently reported that "the California Highway Patrol received what appeared to be a drone worth $22 million in 2016. The Howell Township Police Department in New Jersey received an MRAP [mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle] worth $865,000 in 2016. An MRAP provided to the Payne County Sheriff Office in Stillwater, Oklahoma, cost $1.3 million."
As the Senate debates the latest National Defense Authorization Act, I joined a bipartisan group of senators to introduce an amendment based on my Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act, which I originally introduced with Sen. Brian Schatz (D–Hawaii) in 2015 and have reintroduced in each session of Congress since.
Our amendment would have limited the transfer of certain offensive military equipment including bayonets, grenade launchers, and weaponized drones—all without prohibiting the continued distribution of defensive equipment, such as body armor.
It would also have ensured that communities are notified of requests and transfers by posted notices throughout the area and on a public website, and it would have required that a jurisdiction's governing body approves of the transfers.
Though the Senate voted against these common-sense changes, my standalone legislation goes even further to reform the system, and I will keep working to advance it through Congress.
Our bipartisan approach takes seriously the idea that cops on the beat can only do their jobs well when they are well-known by their neighbors and trusted by their communities.
The Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act will help build that relationship, making our citizens, police, and neighborhoods safer.
Rand Paul is a Republican senator from Kentucky
Bad timing.
After ruby ridge and waco Im all for cops never serving a no knock warrant on a private home ever again but otoh.. Have you seen the movie “HEAT”?
it was partially based off real life events.
[In a free society, citizens should be able to easily distinguish between civilian law enforcement tasked with keeping the peace in our communities and the armed forces tasked with protecting our country from foreign adversaries.
Unfortunately, thanks to the federal government flooding our neighborhoods with billions of dollars of military equipment and property over the years, the line between peace officer and soldier of war has become increasingly blurry. ]
You don’t have to agree with someone 100% of the time. Feel free to make the counter argument.
I always try and be respectful when I disagree with people. I have learned the lesson the hard way believe me...
Indeed. I know where Rand’s heart is on this but the fact of the matter is that ANTIFA is militarizing itself, and rapidly. This is not the moment for unilateral disarmament.
Rand Paul still does not understand the corrosive influence that the presence of millions of foreign criminals is having on the entire country.
There are NO “law-abiding” illegal aliens.
They ALL MUST break laws every day to further their illegal presence.
Except the criminals and terrorists are heavily armed. We need to be able to respond with overwhelming force, not Barney Fife.
Wonder if he’s aware that the Border Patrol has seized two shipments of weapons parts from China. I know one shipment contained parts to transition semi-auto to full auto firing. This is why police have been given hardware - our foreign enemies are arming infiltrators. WOnder if Rand Paul has flipped to the dark side because his timing is absurd.
No, sorry, Paul. Time to DEMILITARIZE THE MOBS. With armed mobs tearing our life apart, I don’t want a bunch of British, no arms show, cops trying to stop them. You have to MILITARIZE the police to handle the MILITARIZED MOBS!
Timing?
Better to let Soros-proof “well regulated militias” engage in the militarization. :)
Law enforcement and jails need to be heavily automated. Robots have no life to lose so have no need to use lethal force to protect themselves. Robots can work 24 hours a day for the price of electricity, are race blind, have super-human reaction speed, and don’t end up on permanent disability after 20 years on the job. If jails are automated we can afford to keep career thugs out of the mainstream. Crime will fall significantly.
Blurring the lines between the police and the military is a classic characteristic of a Third World sh!t-hole.
Agreed. FRers tend to be just as intolerant as libs when it comes to certain sacred cows. You can see it every day.
I still like Rand Paul. I don’t think his timing is good at all. And I think to some extent his arguments are specious here. I agree some things need to be toned down, and for situations like this chaos and rioting, the Guard needs to step up.
The purpose of "law enforcement" isn’t to protect the citizens at large. It’s to ensure that accused criminals are apprehended and protected so they can be subject to legitimate trials instead of hunted down and given justice by armed vigilantes.
We -- including many conservatives -- have forgotten this fundamental aspect of the U.S. legal system over the years. As a result, we no longer think of the police as law enforcement officers and instead see them as nothing more than armed security guards doing a job that we are too lazy and irresponsible to do ourselves.
The defining characteristic of a free society isn't a police department that operates like a military unit. It's a citizenry that is armed to the teeth.
How about reverting to the pre-Edgar J Hoover FBI days when the Federal Alphabet Soup agencies had NO FIREARMS and relied upon local law enforcement when force was required...
I know one shipment contained parts to transition semi-auto to full auto firing
I remember hearing that story myself.
It’s my understand that semi-auto firearms/receivers manufactured over the last few decades are designed so that they cannot be converted to full-auto merely by swapping-out a few parts.
Bad timing by Rand Paul. He’s not a lawyer either. His father is a lawyer. As the police have been told to stand down, Rand tells us to demilitarize the police.
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