The Use Of Paramilitary Tactics Within The Police Force
841 WordsOct 30, 20144 Pages
Recently we have seen the events of Ferguson, Missouri unfold and it has brought into question the validity of the United States use of paramilitary tactics within the police force. While I will be primarily focusing on Furgeson to grant an easy visual aid to the situation, the true nature of paramilitary tactics is way beyond one incident. First we must look at what paramilitary police action is and what has given them the ability to use such tactics. Then we must look at how the decisions revolving around the allowance of police to use such force, and the instances where they were used have affected society.
SWAT teams have been popping up in towns since the 1960’s, but SWAT procedure has been extended to lesser trained peoples within…show more content… Keep in mind this is only in town populations between 25,000 and 50,000. (Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop) There are now about 50,000 SWAT raids in the United States a year, which comes out to roughly 137 raids a day. (Cops or Soldiers?) The United States National Security budget currently stands at 1.2 trillion. Since the enactment of the 1033 program of 1997 there has been $5.1 billion worth of transferred property. (Defense Logistics Agency) On top of that, Homeland Security has given grants eight times as much, marking the $41 billion mark since 2002 in response to terrorism. However, the equipment has no specific use and can be used at the disposal of the grantees. (Billion-dollar industry) U.S. senator Rand Paul, stated that Washington "has incentivized the militarization of local police precincts by using federal dollars to help municipal governments build what are essentially small armies”. ("Race Plays Part in US Police Actions: Paul.)
Now, to put this in perspective we need to look at the recent events of Ferguson, Missouri. 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot six times and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. The shooting sparked civil unrest in the community and resulted in protests, rioting, vandalism, and other such responses. In reaction to the social outcry and protest response, the police force took to militarized procedure to contain the civilians. On August 11, 2014 the local police stations outfitted