Militarization of police getting worse AFTER Ferguson
Before the post-Ferguson riots of 2014 fallout became all about race relations, many people were alarmed that the police forces of the United States were increasingly looking like an occupation army.
In response, the Obama Administration implemented a modest reform on the 1033 Program which gives local police forces old military-grade weapons from the Pentagon.
It turns out that the modest reform was far too modest, and 2015 saw the 2nd largest transfer of military-grade weapons to police forces in the history of the 1033 Program.
Despite public outcry, new federal data shows that 2014 and 2015 were peak years for shipments of surplus military gear to local police departments across America.
In total, our new data reveals $2.2 billion worth of military gear including helicopters and airplanes, armored trucks and cars, tens of thousands of M16 and M14 rifles, thousands of bayonets, mine detectors and many other types of weaponry.
Thousands of units of government across America received military equipment. Using our mapping technology, citizens can quickly search the military ‘gun lockers’ of your local government: park districts, forest preserves, hometown police departments, junior colleges, universities, county sheriffs, natural resource and public safety departments, state police – and Homeland Security, Interior and the Justice Department – across any ZIP code.
Needless to say, this is totally unacceptable. A militarized police force is just the other side of the coin of what increasingly resembles a dystopian police state, with Stingray devices and PredPol "predictive policing software".
Dystopian is precisely the word to use here, since many of these developments come straight from dystopian SciFi novels.
Comments
When people finally wake up to what is going on,
these things will have already been deployed to protect the gated communities that they serve.
It's obvious that many municipalities have lost control
of their police force. It has happened willingly in many cases.
The coordinated quasi-military response to Occupy demonstrators on college campuses and elsewhere is near proof of a national control of the actions.
Contrast Obama's clampdown on Occupy with the kid gloves Cliven Bundy and his western nutjobs got. Bundy was allowed nearly 20 years of free grazing - grazing that trashed the range - with no meaningful enforcement effort. The armed occupiers of the wildlife preserve in Oregon were allowed to come and go for way too long a time. Compare the government response with the bombing of Move in Philly when Move was unarmed.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Who says no to all that free federal $ for warrior-wannabe
toys? Not the upper-echelon level of the boys in blue.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
Handwringer in Chief
Our governor, Kate Brown, finally had to shame the Feds into, you know, actually doing something. She got death threats from the Bundy cretins for doing it--but then, so did nearly everybody else, including the Harney County Sheriff.
As Commander Adama said,
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwrSlzZC31w]
All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine. -- Jeff Spicoli
Rock-bottom prices
The 1033 program lets them buy vehicles and weapons at ridiculously low prices, like $1,000 for an MRAP. Why not raise the cost of this stuff?
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
Wait a minute
We've already paid for that stuff once. I'm not all excited to pay for it again at the "local" level.
I would, however, pay to have it all melted down & make something useful from it.
“We may not be able to change the system, but we can make the system irrelevant in our lives and in the lives of those around us.”—John Beckett
Goon squad defense #1 and #2
I have a half baked scheme to collect the millions of empty tear gas canisters from Palestine, export them through the terrorist tunnels to Amerika, fill them with very smoky Jamaica ganja and toss them back at the militarized goon squads with Bolivian slings (hondas).
My other scheme consists of harvesting 10 quintales of "stink bean" grind it up with ten quintales of "itch root" (a local bromeliad), let it ferment in 100,000 liters of water, and spray it on the helmets from positions on the roof using solar powered compressors.
From the Light House.
OMG! Israeli tactics have arrived in the USA.
Prepare for disaster.
From the Light House.
My, aren't they
scared. Of us???????
Euterpe2
Really important for democratic conventions
Bet they're fuelin' up in Philly?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Wait Until Political and Demographic Info is on Police Screens
I can't wait until Google provides real time demographic and personal/political history info to cops as they pull you over.
That's going to be terrific.
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
Quite possible. Eric Schmidt meets with Obama week in, week out.
GWB was to fundie preacher Ted Haggard as President Obama is to the Google CEO.
Why do you think the "Violent Protestor" lie is going around...
They have to justify their toys.
Saddest thing is all these toys are only useful against an enemy that plays by the rules. If they WANT to turn this place into Iraq and Afghanistan, all they have to do is keep it up.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
At what point does the prohibition of using the military
Against civilians recognize that this is military?
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Just tweeted this out
What a travesty. I feel like every day in America is a Twilight Zone episode these days, but without the occasional humor.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Let's see, wealth inequality - worse.
Wars - worse. Poverty - worse. Democracy - worse. Economy - worse. Police state - worse. Crimes of the ruling elite - worse.
It just goes with everything else, downhill. Nothing is being done to stop this stuff or even slow it down. We're riding a train that's going downhill fast.
Are the good times really over for good?
Ol' Merle asked the question. I'm afraid that the answer is "yes".
[video:https://youtu.be/sxLtXJzo3Ew]
"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey
There is no law enforcement use for "thousands of bayonets"
No really, there isn't. I remember when Rand Paul noted on the Senate floor that there is no legit law enforcement use for bayonets. And yet, here we are.
There is when your job becomes keeping the "have nots" from
the "haves"
All that is, weirdly, pretty much
summarized in this:
http://www.peaceofficerfilm.com/
I sat through it and cried.
I didn't use to cry at movies
******************************
Muerte al fascismo. Muerte a la tiranía. colapso total de los que promueven tampoco. A la pared con el unico porciento%