Yes, it's much worse than 1917 when Russia gave birth to a communist state, or the late 1920's when there was a massive depression, or the 1930's when Stalin killed millions, or the 1940's when World War Two nearly destroyed Europe, or the 1960's when riots were widespread in America, or the 1970's when a gas embargo triggered a major recession and inflation.
Much, much worse than those.
....but leaving that all aside for a moment, let's focus strictly on America. The primary reason that the police militarized in America, was because of the War on Drugs.
You cannot have a 'war' on a medical condition, namely addiction.
What we now have, inastead of police, is a Standing Army -- and the Founding Fathers of America warned us mightily against this.