Did you know that the state of Virginia received just over 2000 weapons, consisting mostly of assault rifles? States like Tennessee have twice the amount and have roughly 900 vehicles, all from the military as well (LESO 1033 Program 2015). This may not seem like a lot; however, this information is part of a larger debate on whether the Federal government should continue militarizing American Law Enforcement by giving them this equipment. Many wonder how militarization started; however, before people understand that, they must understand what militarization really means. When people describe the militarization of police, they usually think that all of the officers have assault weapons, grenade launchers, and other very powerful equipment. A perfect example of a militarized police unit is a SWAT team. SWAT stands for Special Weapons and Tactics and SWAT teams are usually involved in situations which require aggressive tactics (“SWAT team” 2011). According to Peter Kraska, writer of “Militarization of American Police”, police paramilitary units can be described as a SWAT team or a special response team (2005).
A police paramilitary unit can be described as a police unit bearing a military like structure. The …show more content…
After the events of 9/11, Americans wanted action taken to prevent another devastating attack. Cynthia Brown touches on this stating “In militarizing the threat of terrorism, the nation sanctioned and even requested that law enforcement officers, adopt a more militant role centered around the detection, capture, or destruction of the evil doers threatening the nation and the American way of life” (665). If we lack the necessary defenses against terrorists, drug cartels, and average thugs, then we might suffer new attacks and live, fearful of when the next attack will
A police paramilitary unit can be described as a police unit bearing a military like structure. The …show more content…
After the events of 9/11, Americans wanted action taken to prevent another devastating attack. Cynthia Brown touches on this stating “In militarizing the threat of terrorism, the nation sanctioned and even requested that law enforcement officers, adopt a more militant role centered around the detection, capture, or destruction of the evil doers threatening the nation and the American way of life” (665). If we lack the necessary defenses against terrorists, drug cartels, and average thugs, then we might suffer new attacks and live, fearful of when the next attack will