Is it obvious that the police in the United States are
militarized? Yes. All one has to do is to watch the nightly news and the
militarization of police departments will be obvious. The police are now decked
out in body armor, night vision googles, and carrying semi-automatic weapons.
When the police roll up to a crime scene, in many instances they can be seen in
a matte black Bearcat MRAP armored vehicle.
This is even true for college campus police. It isn’t
uncommon today to see
campus police wearing a full range of tactical gear; body
armor, helmets, and battle dress uniforms.
College campuses are militarizing also. Campuses such as
Ohio State University, Central Florida, Arizona State, and the nearly obscure
(outside of the Florida state line) Florida International University are acquiring
equipment such as the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, grenade
launchers, and M-16 assault rifles in bulk.
If the University of Alabama campus police had been
militarized when African American students attempted to desegregate the
University in June 1963, I’m sure the outcome would have ended differently.
Yes, there are dangers in the post-9/11 world, but what
exactly are campus cops worried about? Gone are the days of a campus cop armed
only with a radio and a mag-light. It is true that college campuses aren’t the
safe spots they use to be, one example being the latest terrorist attack on
Ohio State University. It didn’t take a police officer dressed in tactical gear
toting an M-16 to take the terrorist out; only a small side arm.
How did this happen? The 1033 program, as it is called was created by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of
Fiscal Year 1997 as part of the U.S. Government's Defense Logistics Agency
Disposition Services (DLA) to transfer excess military equipment to civilian
law enforcement agencies.
Originally it was the 101st Congress
in 1990 which enacted the NDAA. Section 1208 of the NDAA allowed the Secretary
of Defense to transfer to Federal and State agencies overstock or unused
military and tactical equipment of the Department of Defense which not only
helps police departments but helps the DoD in two ways: (1) it provides small
arms and ammunition that is suitable for agencies in counter-drug activities
and (2) rids the government and military of excess gear and equipment. In 1996,
Congress replaced Section 1208 with Section 1033 which was signed by President
Bill Clinton.
Some examples of the militarization of police departments can
be seen in Connecticut, Georgia, and rust-belt states such as Michigan and
Indiana. These states has acquired mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP)
vehicles (originally used to protect soldiers from roadside bombs), grenade
launchers, and night-vision rifle scopes, camouflage fatigues, Humvees and
dozens of M16 automatic rifles.
America’s militarized police are turning into a
qausi-standing army, the same standing army that our fore fathers (the
Federalists) such as George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton
were in agreement to with the “raise and support army” clause.
It was the anti-Federalists such as James Burgh who argued
that “standing army in times of peace, one of the most hurtful, and most
dangerous of abuses.” James Mason continues Burgh’s assessment with “What
havoc, desolation, and destruction, have been perpetrated by standing armies!”
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| Scene of the signing of the US Constitution |
Even if you disagree that today’s police forces are not the
equivalent of a standing army, it looks as if they [militarized police forces]
are headed in that direction. To the Anti-Federalists, even our actual standing
army is a problem; their idea of protecting the country should be left up to
the militias.
Taylor Wofford of Newsweek
sums it up nicely in the August 13th, 2014 issue with, “Given the
proliferation of military weapons and military training among America’s police
departments, the use of military force and military tactics is not surprising.
When your only tool is a hammer, after all, every problem looks like a nail.”