Militarization of US Police Force America, the country of the free, but is it actually free when the police are packing heat like never before? Recently the local police departments has been seen using excessive force and equipment necessary. Over the past few decades, the government have offered local police departments around five billion dollars’ worth of military-grade weapons and equipment intended for fighting major crimes, terrorism and response to disasters (Snowiss). Why would police need equipment that was made for combat against terrorists? The police force are becoming more and more militarized by: being provided more firepower, more armored vehicles, being taught military tactics, and using excessive force. The Police force do
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Police officers are supposed to be trained to non-lethally bring order to the civilians of the United States of America. They do not need to be ready for the worst case scenario at all times. If the police are going to accept this new equipment in the first place, then they need to lock it up in a safe place like an underground bunker until it is highly needed. There is no reason why they would need these weapons to stop protests like the ones in Ferguson, Missouri. When they do use the equipment, they need to use it to the utmost discretion, and even that might still be too much. The only time the police would need this kind of weaponry is if the city was being invaded by some type of terrorists. And even if that happened, that is why we have a military, a navy, an air force, and a coast guard on standby. The police do not need equipment designed for combat with enemy militaries. The guns that the police have taken are supposed to be used in large gun battles in other countries, not for a police officer to stop a petty theft with. These guns have been used in order to launch “tear gas” into crowds of protestors. The armored vehicles that the police departments have taken have been seen being used to drive through protest demonstrations in Ferguson. The police officers are also being put in military tactics training classes instead of less lethal police tactics training which they should be using in the first place. It is not wrong for them to posses this military equipment; they are just using it wrong. The police officers are also using it too much; instead of using it discretely like they should if at
Police officers are supposed to be trained to non-lethally bring order to the civilians of the United States of America. They do not need to be ready for the worst case scenario at all times. If the police are going to accept this new equipment in the first place, then they need to lock it up in a safe place like an underground bunker until it is highly needed. There is no reason why they would need these weapons to stop protests like the ones in Ferguson, Missouri. When they do use the equipment, they need to use it to the utmost discretion, and even that might still be too much. The only time the police would need this kind of weaponry is if the city was being invaded by some type of terrorists. And even if that happened, that is why we have a military, a navy, an air force, and a coast guard on standby. The police do not need equipment designed for combat with enemy militaries. The guns that the police have taken are supposed to be used in large gun battles in other countries, not for a police officer to stop a petty theft with. These guns have been used in order to launch “tear gas” into crowds of protestors. The armored vehicles that the police departments have taken have been seen being used to drive through protest demonstrations in Ferguson. The police officers are also being put in military tactics training classes instead of less lethal police tactics training which they should be using in the first place. It is not wrong for them to posses this military equipment; they are just using it wrong. The police officers are also using it too much; instead of using it discretely like they should if at