Why America's police look like soldiers
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Published 2020-06-25
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Across the country, Americans protesting racial injustice and police brutality – the overwhelming majority of them peacefully – have been met by police forces that look more like an army. Officers have shown up to protests with riot gear, armored trucks, and military rifles. This is what America’s police now look like, and it’s the result of a decades-long buildup of military equipment among the country’s police departments. It began as a Reagan-era program to give police departments more resources to fight the War on Drugs, and has escalated ever since. Today, the idea of a militarized police force is baked into how American police see themselves.
Read more about the history of police militarization:
www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/overkill-ris…
More on the history of the 1033 program:
www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_report…
And read more of Arthur Rizer’s research here:
www.rstreet.org/2020/05/26/the-evolution-of-modern…
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All Comments (21)
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Military: Doesn’t want guns Police: yoink
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2070 : Why does america's police have Tactical nukes
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There's not a problem with the police having more equipment with varied degrees of enforcement so they can respond to threats more effectively. It's the fact that they deploy military grade equipment on the dumbest of things. You shouldn't respond in the same manner to a peaceful manifestation than to a bank assault or terroristic threats.
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If you have to be police in a country where most civilians are heavily armed, you literally have to be a soldier.
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“I turned it all down, because it feeds a mind-set that you’re not a police officer serving a community, you’re a soldier at war”. Man, that police chief was far-sighted.
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“You give someone a hammer, why are you surprised everything looks like a nail to him?” Best Quote.
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This video apparently simplified the drug problem in the 80s, while ignoring how it led to sophisticated issues, like gang and cartel violence, that actually caused the police to militarize
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"Can you tell which one is police?" Proceeds to only show units in riot gear, which is usually very similar due to the effectiveness of the same tools.
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America has some of the most heavily armed civilians in the world😂
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Several years later, "Why do America's police have fighter jets?"
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American: "Why American police looks like soldiers". Meanwhile Russian police: hold my btr and rpg, I will call artillery strike
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There are a lot of units in the polices and military forces. Each one uses an specific gear to an specific task. In Brazil for example, the common police is a military police.
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2025: “why do mall cops have Nuclear Submarines”
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"America has exported too much military power, now she's paying the price" - Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008).
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There were so many "peaceful" protests in 2020-'21, like the raid at Capitol Hill, many people attacking federal buildings, etc.
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"Let us throw stones at officers and knock them out" "Why are you wearing riot gear? You look too scary :("
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U.S. Military: As part of a treaty, we're going to get rid of some of our nuclear weapons. Police:
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US: why our police looks like soldiers? Brazillians: Laughs in military police.
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Ah, now we know what happens if the soldier police doesn’t show up. The capital gets stormed.
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Ah yes “Where did the police get the rifles used to defend themselves in possibly lethal and deadly situations?”
