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The Militarization Of American Police Departments

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I chose to do this second paper on the militarization of American police departments. This will lend to the thesis Greg and I intend to submit for our final presentation – so we are beginning our research now. As discussed in class, the militarization of police departments is leading American police departments – city or small towns – to act like occupational forces. This is due to several different factors ranging from the availability of weaponry and tanks, to the training of the police departments, to the accessibility of locating crime by advanced surveillance and tracking systems. To further our exploration, Greg and I chose two episodes of the HBO show Vice to watch and elaborate on. For our final presentation we will incorporate these as well as a book Greg has read and some interesting research we will find online. Not only is the militarization of police departments a controversial subject, the consequences of such a transition of our police is detrimental to many. The episode of Vice, and something we are all aware of and have discussed extensively in our courses, reference that the consequences are felt far more severely on the African American population and in low income areas. The two episodes of vice interview several different people about the effects this has on them individually and their communities. These effects, in turn, lead to lack of faith in law enforcement. The first episode of Vice is titled “Surveillance City” and takes place is
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