This are cops in Ferguson:
I think Senator Paul has a point.
Posted on 08/14/2014 12:00:52 PM PDT by Valpal1
The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is an awful tragedy that continues to send shockwaves through the community of Ferguson, Missouri and across the nation.
If I had been told to get out of the street as a teenager, there would have been a distinct possibility that I might have smarted off. But, I wouldn’t have expected to be shot.
The outrage in Ferguson is understandable—though there is never an excuse for rioting or looting. There is a legitimate role for the police to keep the peace, but there should be a difference between a police response and a military response.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Hardly the tip of the iceberg.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Railroad Retirement Board have SWAT teams.
Railroad Retirement Board!?
It's absurd. Who can justify this?
I agree with you-the towns here are policed by the county sheriff, and it works-no pretty toys or political agendas to harass people with.
Me too.
I think there should not be any paramilitary SWAT type hardware in the hands of any local police force, period. If we need it, leave it in the hands of the County Sheriffs, who are usually accountable for their actions directly to the voters. If the local cops need the equipment, it’s a phone call away, they just don’t get to play with it themselves.
Every thinking citizen needs to lobby their City/County governments to REDUCE POLICE BUDGETS.
It's the only way to bring these guys under control.
At most they need to be 1/2 of what the are today.
After all, we DO have a 2nd Amendment and our founders would be aghast when a town of 8,500 can have a 12 man SWAT team with automatic weapons and a sniper and a M113 APC.
That is NOT civilian policing.
Also, at the state level, be sure you are active in the repeal of no-knock warrants. There is NEVER a good reason to use them short of a terrorist and nuke.
We on the Right bear large responsibility for this "Standing Army" and it's up to us to dismantle it.
“Actually, it’s the “moderates” and the non-ACLU left along with a few ancient conservatives (O’Reilly watchers) who aren’t aware of this issue.”
I’m not talking about the main issue he is discussing in the article, I said I agreed with that sentiment in the first sentence of my comment. It’s his tying it to the Michael Brown affair, uncritically, without bothering to wait for the evidence or finding out the real story that is what I am talking about.
You would be correct.
Rand is grandstanding his issue which is gun control .. and/or isolationism.
Will never vote for him.
Police of which I am aware carry a pistol and have a shotgun in the trunk of the patrol car. Back at the station house there is an arms room with additional weapons, tear gas canisters, etc. They now wear flack jackets - hardly a military unit.
Most gangs have police outgunned.
Agree on both.
He lost me with his pandering to low info voters over voting rights and I myself am a former felon who votes.
Its an issue for individual states to decide and him flapping his gums about small government while actively encouraging stripping even more powers away from the states is disgusting.
Well, would you rather that our local police departments have to face drug dealers or terrorists .. by using the standard handgun (38) .. while the bad guys are sporting AK-47’s and other assorted bad ass weaponry ..??
People need to stop only the militarized units like those connected with Cabinet posts. These are overkill and not necessary.
Also, there was a great series a few years ago called “Manhunters”. It was a counter-terrorism unit consisting of police from city, county, state and Fed. They were the most awesome people you would ever want to meet. They went after the hard-core felons who had either escaped from prison; had some court issues, or were on parole and not reporting. These are the “militarized” police you want on our side .. they are descent and concerned about protecting the people from thugs.
If the Obama admin manages to take our guns away .. this country is over and done. Their gun programs have nothing to do with protecting anybody .. they have to do with: CONTROLLING THE PEOPLE.
I sure hope American citizens are paying attention.
Wait, what? Rand said something that’s not off the wall and I agree with? Where’s my calendar, I gotta mark this down.
This is a red herring. The police did not go into Military mode until well after the shooting. It wasn’t until the good citizens of Ferguson took it upon themselves to burn the town to the ground that the police donned their riot gear.
Rand Paul is just trying to pander to the Black voters like he has been trying to pander to the illegal alien voters.
Everything he has been saying lately is STUPID.
The solution does not begin at the federal level, but for the individual states to pass “police de-paramilitarization laws”. Until this is actively debated at the state level, the worms in the woodwork who have been pushing for police paramilitarization all these years will stay hidden.
Lindsay Graham made a TV speech just a few days ago, calling for even more paramilitarization of the police at all levels, but especially the federal level. So he is definitely in the wrong column with this.
But his allies must be revealed. They like to hide their push for paramilitarization in defense and homeland security bills, but the light needs to be shined on them.
I was wondering if, instead of raising their hands to taunt the police, they gave the Nazi salute along with the Seig Heils. Make a great photo op as a comment on the over-militarization.
“Gee ya think? Patriot Act killed a Nation. After that passed the Feds gave MAJOR grants (in the ludicrous name of ‘fighting terrorism’) to States to help them militarize the police.
We are in BIG trouble. It may indeed be too late.”
It probably is already too late.
This started in GWBs first term plenty of Freepers cheered him on.
The WOT was the top priority never mind civil liberties everything had changed and we were all in immediate danger of being killed in an attack by militant Islam.
Never mind the fact that for that super vast majority they had a better chance of getting bit by a rattlesnake than ever being anywhere near a terrorist attack.
The left screamed about the loss of freedoms, the right said it was national security and anybody against it was a traitor.
It was going to be ok because GWB was our guy.
Then we got Obama now the left had their guy and would roll back the PA and all the other outrages they’d bleated about for almost 8 years.
Except Obama didn’t. In fact he doubled down with warrentless wiretaps and unmanned drones and further militarizing of local law enforcement.
The right screamed then about loss of freedoms and the left played the patriot card.
And most Americans, left, right, and center, acted exactly like scared little kids.
We divided into 2 groups and fought each other. Both sides were happy to eat another $hit sandwich as long as it was “Our Guy” who served it up.
But we don’t have a guy and the libs don’t either. The guys at the top, both parties, have much more in common with each other than they do with anybody not in the power structure.
Us at the bottom are just the mules they rode to the top of the hill.
I never bought into the argument that Islam was anything to be afraid of but the fear of that incited millions of Americans to voluntarily grant power to a group who would undoubtedly wield it against us. Our own government.
They were initially developed to deal with extremely dangerous and armed individuals, hostage/rescue situations etc...
That has ALL changed now...
This are cops in Ferguson:
I think Senator Paul has a point.
I hate it when there’s a game on and no team to root for.
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