With both the Obama and the Bush administrations gathering billions of dollars to make sure our nation would be safe. After 9/11 communities that have never seen high crime rates were receiving fully automatic weapons, boxes and boxes of ammunition, high-grade scanners, and militarized vehicles. I understand why officials would think that all these would be beneficial but in the end it turned our local law enforcement into a paramilitary. This was not and never should be the model that local law enforcement should ever operate under. I recognize that both 9/11 and the war on drugs are both reasons why elected officials may feel the need to have such a strong police force but these officials must remember the rights given to a citizen through the Constitution comes first. The 1st Amendment right to free speech and freedom of religion allow for a citizen to fully express himself or herself, and that is what made America into the greatest nation in the world
With both the Obama and the Bush administrations gathering billions of dollars to make sure our nation would be safe. After 9/11 communities that have never seen high crime rates were receiving fully automatic weapons, boxes and boxes of ammunition, high-grade scanners, and militarized vehicles. I understand why officials would think that all these would be beneficial but in the end it turned our local law enforcement into a paramilitary. This was not and never should be the model that local law enforcement should ever operate under. I recognize that both 9/11 and the war on drugs are both reasons why elected officials may feel the need to have such a strong police force but these officials must remember the rights given to a citizen through the Constitution comes first. The 1st Amendment right to free speech and freedom of religion allow for a citizen to fully express himself or herself, and that is what made America into the greatest nation in the world