Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 5:09am

Police or Blue Army?

A retired Marine Colonel speaks truth to power, in the trite Leftist phrase.  The militarization of the police in this country is a dangerous trend.  Law enforcement is not warfare, and to treat it as such is to open the door to domestic tyranny.  Swat teams were initially for emergency situations.  Now the swat team mentality seems to be the first resort for law enforcement.  The police are becoming a well-armed military force and that is perilously close to the fear of standing armies that would be used domestically for political purposes that helped lead to the American Revolution.

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T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Monday, August 19, AD 2013 8:15am

History: the praetorian guards . . . sic semper tyrannus.

Jeff Liss
Jeff Liss
Monday, August 19, AD 2013 8:24am

I agree, except that I would replace the word ‘trend’ in your second sentence with ‘fait accompli.’

Thomas Collins
Thomas Collins
Monday, August 19, AD 2013 9:34am

I heartily recommend Rise of the Warrior Cop:
http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Warrior-Cop-Militarization-Americas/dp/1610392116

Here’s an article by the author for those who don’t want to read the whole book:
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/07/%E2%80%9Cwhy_did_you_shoot_me_i_was_reading_a_book_the_new_warrior_cop_is_out_of_control/

At least Army depends on Congress for appropriations. Law enforcement is now resorting to “civil [sic] forfeiture” to become self-funding.

Michael Paterson-Seymour
Michael Paterson-Seymour
Monday, August 19, AD 2013 12:47pm

The word gendarme, of course, comes from Les gens d’armes = Men-at-arms and constable was a senior cavalry rank – the comes stabularii or Count of the Stables.

The connection, not to say the equation of the police with the military is an old one.

Thomas Collins
Thomas Collins
Thursday, August 22, AD 2013 2:26am

Apple patents tech to let cops switch off iPhone video, camera and wi-fi
http://news.techeye.net/security/apple-patents-tech-to-let-cops-switch-off-iphone-video-camera-and-wi-fi

I’m taking this with a grain of salt, but even without Apple’s cooperation the police can already block out Wi-Fi and cell service whenever they want. They just haven’t chosen to do so yet.

Jon
Jon
Thursday, August 22, AD 2013 5:30pm

Someone recently pointed out that years ago, dystopian writers anticipated far worse. The democratizing effect of the internet alongside the fact that people have their own technologies like, for instance, cell phone cameras, helps to prevent orwellian horrors from coming about.

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