What are your thoughts on “Militarizing the Police?”

I don't think that militarizing the police holistically is a good approach. However, increasing the capabilities of specific units within a PD is probably the right thing to do. Too many criminals/criminal organization have similar equipment/capabilities. Not giving the Police that puts them at a marked disadvantage before they can even hit the streets.

OK step back and look at what you are asking. First responders have had to deal with more militaristic situations: 9/11, Drug Cartels with military grade weapons and Gang Wars. If you ask me they have already made that move by buying military surplus like MRAPS and developing military like SWAT Units, Anti Terrorism Units and after this weeks events large contingents of Anti-Riot Squads. NO, they do not need to be militarized, peopl have to take into account that the Police, Firemen, and Emergency Responders put their lives on the line every day. Every day a policeman has to deal with someone out ther that out guns them has access to military equipment and wants to do them harm. Have you ever watched COPS, or read the paper where a routine traffic stop ends with a fatal shooting of a police officer. People have to do what they are told or they are going to get hurt. RESPECT for the law and the law enforcement officers will stop what happened in NYC and Fergason. When told to stop, get on the ground, do not resist, don't move, obey or pay the price. That police officer doesn't know if you don't have a gun, knife or something you intend to use to end his or her life.

It all begins with RESPECT and RESTRAINT, both by the police and the perpetraitor. When the people of The United States start to see what happens to law enforcement officers each and every day, then they may understand there overzelousness and lack of empathy for perpetrators. It all begins with self protection, self preservation, wanting to see their love ones. Police have been shot walking into the police station in PA, not even there they are safe.

Maybe what is needed are more cameras depolyed with cops on the beat, in their cars to support thier actions and catch the neglect.

I think it would be good to transfer certain military capabilities to the Police. Criminals are very well armed in many areas and there is no need for the Police to be out gunned. But is should go beyond just weaponry. We in the military have certain capabilities such as command and control systems and other capabilities which could be tailored to civilian law enforcement applications. (I am thinking of older systems so that we don't divulge sensitive technology ) I have seen several civilian applications that lag far behind what we had 40 years ago.

In my opinion, the police around the country are becoming para-military. The use of military grade weapons(to include bayonets), military vehicles, body gear, tactics and training is all becoming far too militarized. Not only that, there is no accountability for the mostpart when a serious situation such as a shooting occurs involving a police officer. There needs to be a defensive action/escalation of force rule put in place before an officer even attempts to pull out his/her weapon and should only be done so for their safety.

Moving along, my cousin Sheriff Joel Kerns told me that he has a contract through the military to receive refurbished mraps for use as county vehicles. I asked him what he would use it for and he said to make it easier to go out on rural roads and get to calls. However, he has a buffalo mrap. Now why would he use all that diesel, manpower, gear and weaponry to respond to a call?

Moving further along, i do agree with having a semi automatic rifle of some sort just in case, or at least a shotgun. But it should only be used when necessary. Regular traffic stops and an m4? Not very logical to me. There is way to much unnecessary force being used against civilians by cops who are inadequately trained both in marksmanship and situational control.

SWAT teams are over used, MRAPs are expensive to maintain and not suitable for anything but protection from IEDs.

On one hand I think it is getting carried away. The small country town I now live in has TWO APCs...what the hell for, I don't know, bubba beatin' his wife...roll the tanks. On the other hand all of the sheriffs are kevlared up even in the heat, don't blame them as a Trooper was killed by a transient traffic stop. So defensive-yeah, be all you can be! Offensive -I can't see the need and the extra maintenance expense.

Honestly, as much as I thank him for doing it, I see this as the other edge of the double edge sword of Secy Gates going around the standard procurement procedures. Do not get me wrong, this is not a knock on Bob Gates in any way. I think was an apolitical statesmen of the type we sorely need more of.

We needed MRAPs in a bad way to save service member lives.. Procurement was in the way.. He went around them.. move forward to today… we have all these MRAPs and stuff with no long term storage, maintenance, or disposal plan... why? Because we went around the procurement process... Ahh government is beautiful isn't it?

I've been harsh in my judgment of Police lately. At Walter Reed the other day I got in a discussion with another soldier who is a LEO in south Atlanta when he isn’t wearing Army Green. He brought up some very strong points that gave me pause to my perceptions of Law Enforcement.

1. The United States has roughly 780,000 sworn LEOs. This is more than the standing Army of some nations. The law of averages is going to start playing in with numbers this big. Like our nation’s Army, while it is trusted and has many honorable men and women serving, it has its aberrations. We’ve had our Dahmers, Mannings, and Hassans. You can’t have organizations with that many people without people who have no business being there getting through. The Army is a hell of a lot better funded.

2. Now you’re like, “errmahgherrd 780k!” Well, the US is populated country. Statistically that breaks down to 1 LEO per 245 citizens. Even that is an inflated statistic because the 780k includes reserve officers. The number of full time LEOs is closer to 138k. I’ve had a long day and don’t feel like doing the math to adjust the number. Even with the over inflated number the US is pretty far down the list. I’m going to go out on a limb an quote the wikipediaz as a source in saying that the following countries have a higher ratio of police (including but not limited to): Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada, Japan, and India (and of course China & Iran). I was actually surprised by some of these countries when looking this up.

These are very valid points. When you consider the sheer number of police use of force actions taken every year and take all this into account, it really makes me want to take a harder look at everything before passing summary judgment. I am biased in the fact that police officers tend to be hostile by default. In my capacity as an infantry platoon medic serving in Baghdad during the roughest part of the Iraq War, we did not respond to Iraqis this way. We certainly didn’t hand out buttercups and twizzlers but we knew the difference between a soft knock and a hard knock search. He immediately said, “yep.. and after 15 months you went home and after 15 months that officer still has years to go till retirement.” That.. is a point well taken.

Either way, reform in some form needs to happen. Law enforcement as a whole has an image problem and it is their responsibility to work to fix it. They ignore it at their own peril. Remember that in England, regular officers are not permitted firearms. If there is a sufficient groundswell, that can happen here too and I think we all agree that would probably end up with entire departments tossing their badges in the streets and saying, “thanks but go **** yourself” because I know that is what I would do. I think large departments and professional police associations need to institute military style public affairs and actively counteract the negative messaging prevalent in society. The Ferguson incident is a perfect example of total public information incompetence. There is an excellent pool of service minded, competent, and experienced people constantly transitioning from the Armed Services Public Affairs/Mass Communication communities that could fill these roles.

I think what we are seeing here goes right in line with the normal course of history. Let's take a ride back to the early 1900s. Gangsters were driving around in cars they worked on to make them go faster and then after WWII started using weapons like the BAR and Tommy Guns while the police were still walking around with 6 shot pistols and maybe a shotgun.

Fast forward to the 2000s when now the weapons on the street that mirror what we all saw in places like Fallujah. Police cannot protect the average law abiding person with a 6 shot pistol anymore. So yeah I think they should upgrade their weapons. There are still laws and rules that protects the population. But at the same time, I'm sure if someone broke into your house with AK47s and wearing body armor you would be happy to see the police respond in the same if not better gear.

As the criminals become better armed, the police have to improve their capabilities. It's an arms race as old as time.

See the weapons, vehicles, and other equipment police in your area have acquired from the military. Searchable by state and county.

http://bridge.caspio.net/dp.asp?AppKey=36701000b255adcfe6ca4b13a8a4