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Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces
Amazon ^

Posted on 01/27/2013 7:24:49 PM PST by chessplayer

The American approach to law enforcement was forged by the experience of revolution. Emerging as they did from the shadow of British rule, the country's founders would likely have viewed police, as they exist today, as a standing army, and therefore a threat to liberty. Even so, excessive force and disregard for the Bill of Rights have become epidemic in today’s world. According to civil liberties reporter Radley Balko, these are all symptoms of a generation-long shift to increasingly aggressive, militaristic, and arguably unconstitutional policing—one that would have shocked the conscience of America’s founders.

Rise of the Warrior Cop traces the arc of U.S. law enforcement from the constables and private justice of colonial times to present-day SWAT teams and riot cops. Today, relentless “war on drugs” and “war on terror” pronouncements from politicians, along with battle-clad police forces with tanks and machine guns have dangerously blurred the distinction between cop and soldier.

(Excerpt) Read more at amazon.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: drugs; drugwar; govtabuse; jackbootedthugs; jbts; leo; militarizedpolice; policestate; rapeofliberty; tyranny; warondrugs; wod; wodlist; wosd
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To: chessplayer
Here's an article Radley Balko (the author of the book you posted) wrote for the Huffington Post A Decade After 9/11, Police Departments Are Increasingly Militarized
41 posted on 01/28/2013 6:15:22 AM PST by Girlene
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BFL


42 posted on 01/28/2013 6:38:22 AM PST by zeugma (Those of us who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.)
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To: itssme

Second city cop is quite a blog. The hatred toward Rahm “Tiny Dancer” is palatable.


43 posted on 01/28/2013 6:44:55 AM PST by sergeantdave (The FBI has declared war on the Marine Corps)
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To: sergeantdave
That they are. Second City Cop blog pulls no punches, and they speak their piece.
44 posted on 01/28/2013 7:28:06 AM PST by itssme
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To: CodeToad

Roger that.


45 posted on 01/28/2013 7:34:13 AM PST by tomkat ( .. shall NOT be infringed)
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To: Ken522

Yeah, I’ve been pulled over a few times. Speeding, expired registration, that kind of thing. I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever met a cop in my personal dealings that was anything other than professional and polite.


46 posted on 01/28/2013 8:01:13 AM PST by Melas (u)
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To: itssme; sergeantdave; FReepers
Interested in a day-by-day account of how a major (once)American city is turning into a 3rd world shithole ?

Bookmark  Second City Cop

It's not a site for virginal sensitivities, but the hard truths in life usually aren't.

47 posted on 01/28/2013 8:01:24 AM PST by tomkat ( .. shall NOT be infringed)
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To: Lexinom

I wish FReepers would stop posting that nonsense about the county sheriff being the most powerful law enforcement, blah blah.

One more time, for the record: Like the office of the governor, the power of the sheriff is derived from the state constitution. Some states have governors with strong executive powers, and some states do not. Likewise, some states grant sheriffs broad powers, and some states don’t. Some states like CT, and AK don’t even provide for the office of sheriff. In some states the sheriff is just a job that is filled and vacated by hiring and firing not an elected official. Some states grant the office broad law enforcement powers, others relegate them to process servers, and a handful use them exclusively as jailers.


48 posted on 01/28/2013 8:16:57 AM PST by Melas (u)
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To: Secret Agent Man
Disarm all SWAT and riot cops. They are not being used the way they were sold to the public a long time ago.


49 posted on 01/28/2013 8:35:56 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies ("The Lord has removed His judgments against you" - Zep. 3:15)
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To: ThomasThomas

“..Do we want them to be our allies or our foe?

We still have time to make a difference....”

That’s THEIR choice, entirely.

I don’t recall any normal, everyday civilians being asked whether or not they’d fire on other citizens, or go door to door to confiscate legally-owned, lawfully-purchased private property.

Life is full of choices...not all choices are easy, nor smart. But it is still a choice.


50 posted on 01/28/2013 8:52:08 AM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: Melas
I stand corrected. In the spirit of the 10A you are right. CT, for example, did away with all county government several years ago such that there is no longer the concept of "county" there. Other states have a weak sheriff who has little responsibility.

In those counties with a strong sheriff, their selection is a critical consideration.

51 posted on 01/28/2013 12:13:49 PM PST by Lexinom
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To: virgil

The first nation to militarize it’s police was Nazi Germany. History provides many lessons.


52 posted on 01/28/2013 12:18:55 PM PST by jmacusa (Political correctness is cultural Marxism. I'm not a Marxist.)
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To: saneright

I’ve lived in Jersey all my life and I can attest to the truth of what you say. Two cousins of mine are retired NJ cops and left the force because they said it was getting ‘’too crazy’’ and they didn’t mean the bad guys. The biggest a-hole punk of a wanna-be cop is our governor.


53 posted on 01/28/2013 12:22:56 PM PST by jmacusa (Political correctness is cultural Marxism. I'm not a Marxist.)
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To: tfecw
With traffic cameras taking over the typical duties of the revenue collection agents, how long before swat is no longer ‘special’ and is just ‘typical’

Would we then call them TWAT?

54 posted on 01/28/2013 1:41:05 PM PST by BlueMondaySkipper (Involuntarily subsidizing the parasite class since 1981)
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To: Lexinom

I didn’t mean to jump as vehemently as I did. You obviously know the difference which is a good thing.

However, not everyone does. I’ve seen many a freeper espouse the Posse Commitatus (the group, not the act) nonsense that the county sheriff is the ultimate political and law enforcement power in his/her jurisdiction. Which as we’ve been through, is not the case.

Even in my state, TX, it’s not the case. The Texas Rangers have jurisdiction over all other local law enforcement. One of their duties is to investigate complaints against county law enforcement.


55 posted on 01/28/2013 2:46:59 PM PST by Melas (u)
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To: kearnyirish2
“So true. Here in NJ we thinned their ranks with a property tax cap that cost thousands of cops their jobs, leaving middle-aged police forces (the last hired were the first laid off); those urban cops were hardest hit because they often worked in cities that were dependent on state/federal aid for their pay. The cities haven’t been safe in decades anyway, so I don’t think there will be much impact; because of the whole “racial profiling” nonsense, cops had let the worst thugs have their way anyway.

Right before we started shedding cops they published a figure for the number of cops earning over $100K in NJ; they lost most public support at that point.”

I was actually still living in NJ when that happened. Cops in Mountainside and Springfiled that had 10-15 years on the force were all 90k a year, and many were over 100k. That’s just base salary. Add in all the benefits and OT (which much of is bullshit; shifts worked at time and a half or double time that aren’t necessary)and the compensation package was 150 to 200k a year.

Not bad money for a guy in his mid 30’s, usually with no more than a high school degree. I guess that explains why whenever there is an available job in these towns they get over 1000 qualified applicants competing for the job.

56 posted on 01/28/2013 3:00:59 PM PST by saneright
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To: saneright

“Not bad money for a guy in his mid 30’s, usually with no more than a high school degree.”

A guy I know just “retired” from my town’s cops; he is 46 years old (finished 25 years on the job). That is why NJ is bankrupt; they’ll spend so much paying him they can’t hire his replacement...


57 posted on 01/28/2013 5:06:56 PM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic war against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: Melas

Depending on how things fall out the next couple of weeks, I may be joining you in Texas again soon.


58 posted on 01/28/2013 7:16:15 PM PST by Lexinom
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To: chessplayer

Warrior cops are those of us that will defend the Constitution no matter the consequences, all others are government bitches.


59 posted on 01/29/2013 2:15:35 AM PST by Ajnin (Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnocet!)
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To: kearnyirish2

Steve Wozniak had no more than a “high school degree” when he engineered the Disk II in 1978 - in just two weeks prior to a trade show. Guess he was a dumb guy since he had less than a Bachelor’s at the time...


60 posted on 01/29/2013 1:24:10 PM PST by Lexinom
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