Why Death Squads Have Been A Tool Used By States

Drug trafficking in Mexico has been a political and social issue over the past 30 or so years. Narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, methanphetamines, marijuana, as well as firearms are all being moved across the border of Mexico into the United States. In response to the illegal activity, both Mexican and American governments have started a war on drugs. The war on drugs is considered a “killing machine” by the International Socialist Review (ISR). The ISR provides statistics that, since 2009 and up to 2013, there had been almost 70,000 confirmed deaths that are related

The police in Rio de Janeiro regularly takes bribes from drug lords, abuses favela citizens, and sells back drugs and firearms to the drug trade. Because of this, the favela becomes scared of the police, which can make some places dangerous to be at which can make it easier for people to be killed.

This was exemplified when there were executions of 22 members of the FMLN between June and September of 1993 (Witte 2011). This suggested a renewal of death squad style assassinations and hinted at the everlasting presence of political crime in El Salvador.

It is irrational to think that the death penalty – a remote threat at best – will avert murders committed in drug turf wars or by street-level dealers” (Bedau). This shows that the death penalty is not stopping murders from occurring. The introduction to the death penalty conducted a survey were top criminologists stated that the death penalty does not deter homicide rates (Introduction). “For 2009, the average Murder Rate of Death Penalty States was 4.9 [Murder rates by the 100,000], while the average Murder Rate of States without the Death Penalty was 2.8” (Introduction).

In the search for suspects in the cases, the police are mostly involved in the brutalization of the family members in search of evidence to present in court. The use of physical force is dominant with the police and also there is destruction of property of the suspects who are involved in the police brutality. In the search for the suspects too, the police may involve the people through long interrogation processes which entails issuing of threats to arrest the people, eviction of the people and also threatening to lose their children in cases whereby they want evidence on the crimes. In the search of people with warrants of arrest, the police become brutal in a way which may make them promise things like funerals and also putting the people to emergency rooms for medication purposes quickly (Newcomb, 2014). The higher pressures in arresting the people according to Goffman indicates the failure of the police on the war against drugs which has made them to be brutal in such ways. The war against drugs according to the writer has led many people in prison instead of finding solutions to end the trading of drugs or to end poverty in many homesteads. According to Goffman, the agencies which are entrusted with the enforcement of law and order “address the significant social problems of able-bodied

Another element of the strategy is untwisting the “spiral of violence”. The classic mechanism, which assume the existence of cycles of suicide terrorism activity in a “action-repression-reaction” it is aimed at lowering the public support for the government, and increase it for the terrorists. By curried out the suicide terrorism attacks, the intension and aim of the terrorists is to hit the repressive actions of the authorities not only in themselves but also in the group indentified with them and/or their supporters (a specified ethnic group, religious, social or the entire society). As a result, this process has lead to massive social explosion directed against the government. Such a model of strategy for terrorism has been used by most of the leftist groups in Europe in the nineteenth century, and in the

The War on Drug policy, in its implementation, came along with the tools of war, such as Special Weapons and Tactical teams (SWAT), armored vehicles, assault weapons, and undercover operations. The communities disrupted by the war were those most vulnerable, where drug activity was more apparent, and often occurring in open air markets. These communities were in the urban areas of American cities, where minority and lower-class citizens of color resided. The targets were easy. The numbers substantiated the validity of the proverbial war. The result was an unprecedented increase in the incarceration of American citizens, primarily from inner-city

The current drug policies and officers are very good at drug busts(Jones). Stopping trafficking of drugs is the current wars strongest winning points(Jones). The current method has reduced drug use and certain crimes(Jones). In most of the cases in the past the “no Tolerance”attitude has paid of(Jones).

The different goals behind the brutality and the different methods of murder is evident in each of the

(intro)the 2009- 2010 leaders and supporters of the FNL, The Front of Struggle, were killed by drug hitmen. Ovidio ortiz, a life long leader of the heath union, was a target for the massacre. He was hit with eight bullets. Six days after the health worker massacre on march 30th a passing vehicle shot at residents who gathered at the neighborhood store, only 8 were injured. (history of death squads) The guatemalan army slaughtered politics and suspected

In 2015 990 were shot by police. From January to September 2016, it is estimated that 681 people have been shot and killed by police officers (Fatal Force). The incredibly high number of deaths in that short time span should not only shock one but give concern. Police officers are supposed to serve and protect, not be the cause of all the murders of the people they are supposed to be protecting. Police officers have gotten too comfortable in reaching for their gun when feeling uneasy about a situation. Many, if not all, of the murders could have been prevented if police officers were not allowed to carry any lethal weapons. There are various options in preventing these murdering without jeopardizing the safety of police officers. Police officers should only be allowed to carry non lethal weapons in order to optimize the safety of the people.

Over the past few decades there has been a drastic shift towards an almost completely militarized police force around the world. Local, national and even international law enforcement agencies are militarizing to face modern day threats. Law enforcement agencies around the world have been forced to militarize in order to properly respond to the ever growing arsenals of terrorist and criminal enterprises. This will be examined through looking at the globalization of militarizing police forces, the violent criminal, problems with the militarized force, use of the military equipment, and finally the justification for using military equipment.

When I first had any thoughts about the war on drugs I believed that this issue had nearly been completely eradicated due to the tireless efforts of law enforcement. One of my preconceived ideas was that the individuals involved in this trade lacked any autonomy of what they were doing to their societies. But one thing that I never doubted was that those in charge of these drug-dealings were cunning and calculated people. Through applying various sociological concepts such as; the influence of race, ethnicity, bureaucracies, among other sociological ideas one can see that there is more to the war on drugs than people selling narcotics and people buying narcotics. An important sociological term to familiarize oneself with to understand this

As stated throughout this essay, Mexico has taken a hit with the outstanding homicide cases due to this drug war.

routine; there were days when more than 100 persons were executed. Amnesty International documented 2,946 executions in the 12 months following Bani Sadr 's impeachment, a conservative figure because the authorities did not report all executions. The pace of executions slackened considerably at the end of 1982, partly as a result of a deliberate government decision but primarily because, by then, the back of the armed resistance movement had largely been broken. The radical opposition had, however, eliminated several key clerical leaders, exposed vulnerabilities in the state 's security apparatus, and posed the threat, never realized, of sparking a wider opposition movement.