Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Militarization of the police in the United States

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Militarization of the police in the United States

    Rise of the Warrior Cop - WSJ.com

    Rise of the Warrior Cop
    Is it time to reconsider the militarization of American policing?

    By
    RADLEY BALKO


    On Jan. 4 of last year, a local narcotics strike force conducted a raid on the Ogden, Utah, home of Matthew David Stewart at 8:40 p.m. The 12 officers were acting on a tip from Mr. Stewart's former girlfriend, who said that he was growing marijuana in his basement. Mr. Stewart awoke, naked, to the sound of a battering ram taking down his door. Thinking that he was being invaded by criminals, as he later claimed, he grabbed his 9-millimeter Beretta pistol.

    The police say that they knocked and identified themselves, though Mr. Stewart and his neighbors said they heard no such announcement. Mr. Stewart fired 31 rounds, the police more than 250. Six of the officers were wounded, and Officer Jared Francom was killed. Mr. Stewart himself was shot twice before he was arrested. He was charged with several crimes, including the murder of Officer Francom.

    The police found 16 small marijuana plants in Mr. Stewart's basement. There was no evidence that Mr. Stewart, a U.S. military veteran with no prior criminal record, was selling marijuana. Mr. Stewart's father said that his son suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and may have smoked the marijuana to self-medicate.

    Early this year, the Ogden city council heard complaints from dozens of citizens about the way drug warrants are served in the city. As for Mr. Stewart, his trial was scheduled for next April, and prosecutors were seeking the death penalty. But after losing a hearing last May on the legality of the search warrant, Mr. Stewart hanged himself in his jail cell.

    The police tactics at issue in the Stewart case are no anomaly. Since the 1960s, in response to a range of perceived threats, law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at every level of government, have been blurring the line between police officer and soldier. Driven by martial rhetoric and the availability of military-style equipment—from bayonets and M-16 rifles to armored personnel carriers—American police forces have often adopted a mind-set previously reserved for the battlefield. The war on drugs and, more recently, post-9/11 antiterrorism efforts have created a new figure on the U.S. scene: the warrior cop—armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers, and a growing threat to familiar American liberties.

    The acronym SWAT stands for Special Weapons and Tactics. Such police units are trained in methods similar to those used by the special forces in the military. They learn to break into homes with battering rams and to use incendiary devices called flashbang grenades, which are designed to blind and deafen anyone nearby. Their usual aim is to "clear" a building—that is, to remove any threats and distractions (including pets) and to subdue the occupants as quickly as possible.
    The Saturday Essay

    The country's first official SWAT team started in the late 1960s in Los Angeles. By 1975, there were approximately 500 such units. Today, there are thousands. According to surveys conducted by the criminologist Peter Kraska of Eastern Kentucky University, just 13% of towns between 25,000 and 50,000 people had a SWAT team in 1983. By 2005, the figure was up to 80%.

    The number of raids conducted by SWAT-like police units has grown accordingly. In the 1970s, there were just a few hundred a year; by the early 1980s, there were some 3,000 a year. In 2005 (the last year for which Dr. Kraska collected data), there were approximately 50,000 raids.

    A number of federal agencies also now have their own SWAT teams, including the Fish & Wildlife Service, NASA, the Consumer Products Safety Commission and the Department of the Interior. In 2011, the Department of Education's SWAT team bungled a raid on a woman who was initially reported to be under investigation for not paying her student loans, though the agency later said she was suspected of defrauding the federal student loan program.

    The details of the case aside, the story generated headlines because of the revelation that the Department of Education had such a unit. None of these federal departments has responded to my requests for information about why they consider such high-powered military-style teams necessary.

    Americans have long been wary of using the military for domestic policing. Concerns about potential abuse date back to the creation of the Constitution, when the founders worried about standing armies and the intimidation of the people at large by an overzealous executive, who might choose to follow the unhappy precedents set by Europe's emperors and monarchs.

    The idea for the first SWAT team in Los Angeles arose during the domestic strife and civil unrest of the mid-1960s. Daryl Gates, then an inspector with the Los Angeles Police Department, had grown frustrated with his department's inability to respond effectively to incidents like the 1965 Watts riots. So his thoughts turned to the military. He was drawn in particular to Marine Special Forces and began to envision an elite group of police officers who could respond in a similar manner to dangerous domestic disturbances.

    Mr. Gates initially had difficulty getting his idea accepted. Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker thought the concept risked a breach in the divide between the military and law enforcement. But with the arrival of a new chief, Thomas Reddin, in 1966, Mr. Gates got the green light to start training a unit. By 1969, his SWAT team was ready for its maiden raid against a holdout cell of the Black Panthers.

    At about the same time, President Richard Nixon was declaring war on drugs. Among the new, tough-minded law-enforcement measures included in this campaign was the no-knock raid—a policy that allowed drug cops to break into homes without the traditional knock and announcement. After fierce debate, Congress passed a bill authorizing no-knock raids for federal narcotics agents in 1970.

    Over the next several years, stories emerged of federal agents breaking down the doors of private homes (often without a warrant) and terrorizing innocent citizens and families. Congress repealed the no-knock law in 1974, but the policy would soon make a comeback (without congressional authorization).

    During the Reagan administration, SWAT-team methods converged with the drug war. By the end of the 1980s, joint task forces brought together police officers and soldiers for drug interdiction. National Guard helicopters and U-2 spy planes flew the California skies in search of marijuana plants. When suspects were identified, battle-clad troops from the National Guard, the DEA and other federal and local law enforcement agencies would swoop in to eradicate the plants and capture the people growing them.

    Advocates of these tactics said that drug dealers were acquiring ever bigger weapons and the police needed to stay a step ahead in the arms race. There were indeed a few high-profile incidents in which police were outgunned, but no data exist suggesting that it was a widespread problem. A study done in 1991 by the libertarian-leaning Independence Institute found that less than one-eighth of 1% of homicides in the U.S. were committed with a military-grade weapon. Subsequent studies by the Justice Department in 1995 and the National Institute for Justice in 2004 came to similar conclusions: The overwhelming majority of serious crimes are committed with handguns, and not particularly powerful ones.

    The new century brought the war on terror and, with it, new rationales and new resources for militarizing police forces. According to the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Department of Homeland Security has handed out $35 billion in grants since its creation in 2002, with much of the money going to purchase military gear such as armored personnel carriers. In 2011 alone, a Pentagon program for bolstering the capabilities of local law enforcement gave away $500 million of equipment, an all-time high.

    The past decade also has seen an alarming degree of mission creep for U.S. SWAT teams. When the craze for poker kicked into high gear, a number of police departments responded by deploying SWAT teams to raid games in garages, basements and VFW halls where illegal gambling was suspected. According to news reports and conversations with poker organizations, there have been dozens of these raids, in cities such as Baltimore, Charleston, S.C., and Dallas.

    In 2006, 38-year-old optometrist Sal Culosi was shot and killed by a Fairfax County, Va., SWAT officer. The investigation began when an undercover detective overheard Mr. Culosi wagering on college football games with some buddies at a bar. The department sent a SWAT team after Mr. Culosi, who had no prior criminal record or any history of violence. As the SWAT team descended, one officer fired a single bullet that pierced Mr. Culosi's heart. The police say that the shot was an accident. Mr. Culosi's family suspects the officer saw Mr. Culosi reaching for his cellphone and thought he had a gun.

    Assault-style raids have even been used in recent years to enforce regulatory law. Armed federal agents from the Fish & Wildlife Service raided the floor of the Gibson Guitar factory in Nashville in 2009, on suspicion of using hardwoods that had been illegally harvested in Madagascar. Gibson settled in 2012, paying a $300,000 fine and admitting to violating the Lacey Act. In 2010, the police department in New Haven, Conn., sent its SWAT team to raid a bar where police believed there was underage drinking. For sheer absurdity, it is hard to beat the 2006 story about the Tibetan monks who had overstayed their visas while visiting America on a peace mission. In Iowa, the hapless holy men were apprehended by a SWAT team in full gear.


    Unfortunately, the activities of aggressive, heavily armed SWAT units often result in needless bloodshed: Innocent bystanders have lost their lives and so, too, have police officers who were thought to be assailants and were fired on, as (allegedly) in the case of Matthew David Stewart.

    In my own research, I have collected over 50 examples in which innocent people were killed in raids to enforce warrants for crimes that are either nonviolent or consensual (that is, crimes such as drug use or gambling, in which all parties participate voluntarily). These victims were bystanders, or the police later found no evidence of the crime for which the victim was being investigated. They include Katherine Johnston, a 92-year-old woman killed by an Atlanta narcotics team acting on a bad tip from an informant in 2006; Alberto Sepulveda, an 11-year-old accidentally shot by a California SWAT officer during a 2000 drug raid; and Eurie Stamps, killed in a 2011 raid on his home in Framingham, Mass., when an officer says his gun mistakenly discharged. Mr. Stamps wasn't a suspect in the investigation.

    What would it take to dial back such excessive police measures? The obvious place to start would be ending the federal grants that encourage police forces to acquire gear that is more appropriate for the battlefield. Beyond that, it is crucial to change the culture of militarization in American law enforcement.

    Consider today's police recruitment videos (widely available on YouTube), which often feature cops rappelling from helicopters, shooting big guns, kicking down doors and tackling suspects. Such campaigns embody an American policing culture that has become too isolated, confrontational and militaristic, and they tend to attract recruits for the wrong reasons.

    If you browse online police discussion boards, or chat with younger cops today, you will often encounter some version of the phrase, "Whatever I need to do to get home safe." It is a sentiment that suggests that every interaction with a citizen may be the officer's last. Nor does it help when political leaders lend support to this militaristic self-image, as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg did in 2011 by declaring, "I have my own army in the NYPD—the seventh largest army in the world."

    The motivation of the average American cop should not focus on just making it to the end of his shift. The LAPD may have given us the first SWAT team, but its motto is still exactly the right ideal for American police officers: To protect and serve.

    SWAT teams have their place, of course, but they should be saved for those relatively rare situations when police-initiated violence is the only hope to prevent the loss of life. They certainly have no place as modern-day vice squads.

    Many longtime and retired law-enforcement officers have told me of their worry that the trend toward militarization is too far gone. Those who think there is still a chance at reform tend to embrace the idea of community policing, an approach that depends more on civil society than on brute force.

    In this very different view of policing, cops walk beats, interact with citizens and consider themselves part of the neighborhoods they patrol—and therefore have a stake in those communities. It's all about a baton-twirling "Officer Friendly" rather than a Taser-toting RoboCop.

    Mr. Balko is the author of "Rise of the Warrior Cop," published this month by Public Affairs.

    Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

  • #2
    100% agree. Just as troubling is the number of victims (many who turn out to be innocent) shot by SWAT teams who die because SWAT delays medical treatment claiming they need to clear the scene.

    Comment


    • #3
      Unfortunately breaking down the front doors is the trend. I already hashed this out with my neighbor and local cop. "Hey I have a wife and kids at home and I do not want them to get hurt. If you got a warrant give me a call and I would me most happy to come down to the station. If you beat down my front door unannounced and I don't know you are cops....bring body bags because you guys will have created a deadly situation."
      Removing a single turd from the cesspool doesn't make any difference.

      Comment


      • #4
        "The police say that they knocked and identified themselves, though Mr. Stewart and his neighbors said they heard no such announcement. Mr. Stewart fired 31 rounds, the police more than 250. Six of the officers were wounded, and Officer Jared Francom was killed. Mr. Stewart himself was shot twice before he was arrested. He was charged with several crimes, including the murder of Officer Francom."

        Not a good outcome for everyone involved. Still while the article goes on at great lengths about SWAT Teams it doesn't actually say the entry team involved were part of a tactical Operations Unit as opposed to plain cloths detectives. If they were uniformed and equipped at SWAT then based on the above it would appear the engagement continued for some time - which begs the question exactly why did Mr Stewart failed to recognize them as Police officers? I mean 6 or 7 burly guys (and girls) dressed in dark blue tactical overalls, equipment vests, body armor, helmets and carrying M-4's or MP-5 etc are sought of hard to mistake for anything else - no matter how soundly you are sleeping when they come a' knocking!
        If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Monash View Post
          which begs the question exactly why did Mr Stewart failed to recognize them as Police officers? I mean 6 or 7 burly guys (and girls) dressed in dark blue tactical overalls, equipment vests, body armor,
          Not for a combat vet with PTSD used to fighting men wielding automatic weapons. he's dead now, but we don't know if he fought those cops in his home, or if in his mind he was fighting Hajis or Mujids in some mud brick shit house.
          Last edited by zraver; 20 Jul 13,, 05:13.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by zraver View Post
            Originally posted by Monash View Post
            which begs the question exactly why did Mr Stewart failed to recognize them as Police officers? I mean 6 or 7 burly guys (and girls) dressed in dark blue tactical overalls, equipment vests, body armor,
            Not for a combat vet with PTSD used to fighting men wielding automatic weapons. he's dead now, but we don't know if he fought those cops in his home, or if in his mind he was fighting Hajis or Mujids in some mud brick shit house.
            Not to mention the tactics of the SWAT team are designed to confuse and disorient the suspect. You can't use tactics designed to confuse and then expect the homeowner to have perfect clarity about who he's up against. In this case the home owner reverted to his combat training and experience amidst the confusion, resulting in tragedy all around.

            Comment


            • #7
              [QUOTE=zraver;923969]
              Originally posted by Monash View Post
              which begs the question exactly why did Mr Stewart failed to recognize them as Police officers? I mean 6 or 7 burly guys (and girls) dressed in dark blue tactical overalls, equipment vests, body armor,

              Not for a combat vet with PTSD used to fighting men wielding automatic weapons. he's dead now, but we don't know if he fought those cops in his home, or if in his mind he was fighting Hajis or Mujids in some mud brick shit house.
              Or if he was trying to protect the illegal marijuana plants that he was growing in the basement. 16 plants goes way above "Personal Use". Guess he didn't notice the police cars either when he exited the house and went to his shed either.

              And thats a prime example of why cops have to go in heavy. Mans growing dope in his home and shoots the cops as they enter. Another scumbag off the streets. Glad he saved the taxpayers money by hanging his self. And the "former combat vet" crap doesn't carry water. If he was doing the right thing he wouldn't have been in the situation.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by citanon View Post
                Not to mention the tactics of the SWAT team are designed to confuse and disorient the suspect. You can't use tactics designed to confuse and then expect the homeowner to have perfect clarity about who he's up against. In this case the home owner reverted to his combat training and experience amidst the confusion, resulting in tragedy all around.
                The police, attacking from surprise fired 250 rounds and got 2 hits. Mr. Stewart, reacting to a surprise attack fired 31 rounds and got at least 6 hits.... Not sure if The Ogden PD should be ashamed of itself, or was this guy an operator?

                Comment


                • #9
                  [QUOTE=Gun Grape;923974]
                  Originally posted by zraver View Post

                  Or if he was trying to protect the illegal marijuana plants that he was growing in the basement. 16 plants goes way above "Personal Use". Guess he didn't notice the police cars either when he exited the house and went to his shed either.

                  And thats a prime example of why cops have to go in heavy. Mans growing dope in his home and shoots the cops as they enter. Another scumbag off the streets. Glad he saved the taxpayers money by hanging his self. And the "former combat vet" crap doesn't carry water. If he was doing the right thing he wouldn't have been in the situation.
                  I don't know how much each plant is likely to produce or how much he smoked so I don't know.

                  As for the combat vet... We'll what ever other mistakes he made, his combat training didn't fail him... He was in during GW1, airborne qualified base don his army photo.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                    Or if he was trying to protect the illegal marijuana plants that he was growing in the basement. 16 plants goes way above "Personal Use". Guess he didn't notice the police cars either when he exited the house and went to his shed either.

                    And thats a prime example of why cops have to go in heavy. Mans growing dope in his home and shoots the cops as they enter. Another scumbag off the streets. Glad he saved the taxpayers money by hanging his self. And the "former combat vet" crap doesn't carry water. If he was doing the right thing he wouldn't have been in the situation.
                    I strongly disagree with you on the cops going in heavy and having 16 pots is above personal use. If you want to use marijuana, you need more than one plant because you have to stage the plants in different stages of growth, nurturing, and harvesting to have a steady supply year round. I am not a pot smoker and never smoked pot but I do know what it is like to grow herbal plants and try to have a steady year round supply of herbs.

                    As for the cops going in heavy, I disagree. You only go in heavy if you think you are going to encounter heavy resistance. They had no proof whatsoever that this guy was packing weapons. His former girlfriend ought to be ashamed of herself. She is culpable in his suicide. She's a bitch. Anyway back to topic, they had no proof that he was packing weapons or was a violent person. They just assumed that he was a violent person. I do not buy the argument that a cop's live triumph over the live of a civilian. the cops are not above the law and no special from any other person. Like you said former combat vet doesn't carry water, neither the uniform of a cop carry water. It is high time that the cops be brought down from their lofty position and hard.
                    Last edited by Blademaster; 20 Jul 13,, 05:40.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Laoclly,

                      Arkansas State Police Lieutenant Sedrick Reed, 43, of Hope, was arrested on drug charges Thursday afternoon by federal marshals at state police headquarters in Little Rock.

                      Reed, assistant commander of Troop A, was held without bond in Pulaski County jail pending arraignment Friday afternoon in US District Court with Judge J. Thomas Ray presiding.

                      Civilian Lamont M. Johnson, 45, of Little Rock, was also arrested at his home Thursday in connection with the case.

                      A summary of the charges on the federal court website

                      Updated: Feds arrest ASP lieutenant on drug charges | TheCabin.net - Conway, Arkansas


                      Armed suspect, highly trained and wearing body armor...... arrested at work, no shootout no problem. No need for a flashbangy swat team.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Gentlemen point of order (1):

                        Originally posted by citanon View Post
                        Not to mention the tactics of the SWAT team are designed to confuse and disorient the suspect. You can't use tactics designed to confuse and then expect the homeowner to have perfect clarity about who he's up against. In this case the home owner reverted to his combat training and experience amidst the confusion, resulting in tragedy all around.
                        Firstly as far as Police Tactical Operations are concerned "confusion and disorientation" are bi-products of an operation. The prime intention is to contain/neutralize any possible threat to the safety and welfare of all persons involved including the occupants (more often that not other persons will be in the premises not just the target). For this reason the prime tools of SWAT type operations are speed and force which are combined to make what is called a dynamic entry. The idea is that all adults in the premises are on the floor and cuffed within a few seconds of the breach. Yes this causes confusion and disorientation but you want them on the floor and safe first - then they can confused and disorientated to their hearts content. Confused and disorientated suspects who are not safely contained aren't generally able to follow simple orders and instructions so you definitely don't want anyone confused, up and mobile. If the operation itself is "confused" and suspect is able to take advantage of it - then you have what is technically referred to as a "cluster fuck" and the debrief afterwards is not something you would want to be part of.
                        Last edited by Monash; 20 Jul 13,, 08:19.
                        If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Point of order (2)

                          Originally posted by Blademaster View Post
                          As for the cops going in heavy, I disagree. You only go in heavy if you think you are going to encounter heavy resistance. They had no proof whatsoever that this guy was packing weapons. His former girlfriend ought to be ashamed of herself. She is culpable in his suicide. She's a bitch. Anyway back to topic, they had no proof that he was packing weapons or was a violent person. They just assumed that he was a violent person. I do not buy the argument that a cop's live triumph over the live of a civilian. the cops are not above the law and no special from any other person. Like you said former combat vet doesn't carry water, neither the uniform of a cop carry water. It is high time that the cops be brought down from their lofty position and hard.
                          The above statement makes a lot of assumptions. It assumes the Police went in without first doing at least a basic intel assessment and STP. I'm not saying they did prepare an STP but it is normal procedure in most Police forces I know of to do so. Any such assessment should have revealed his military service and details of same, any criminal history and any reports intel reports indicating propensity to violence, mental health issues etc . It also assumes that the "bitch", sorry ex girlfriend only mentioned marijuana plants and not the fact that the suspect had a hand gun - not saying she did know just that it was a definite possibility.

                          So assuming the Police involved knew they were dealing with an armed military veteran then you have an elevated threat profile - hence the SWAT Team (if they were SWAT).
                          Last edited by Monash; 20 Jul 13,, 08:09.
                          If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            So whoever shot the unarmed 'suspected accomplice' (because we're all innocent until proved guilty no?) of the Boston bombers - one of their college pals - six times in the body and once in the top of the head was worried about his safety?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Point of order (3)


                              Originally posted by zraver View Post
                              Arkansas State Police Lieutenant Sedrick Reed, 43, of Hope, was arrested on drug charges Thursday afternoon by federal marshals at state police headquarters in Little Rock.
                              A summary of the charges on the federal court website

                              Armed suspect, highly trained and wearing body armor...... arrested at work, no shootout no problem. No need for a flashbangy swat team.
                              Overlooking the fact that 99.9 % of arrests don't involve the use of SWAT Teams ....

                              Well yes -now if we could arrange for all suspects to work in a Police building, safely cordoned and contained away from the general public, surrounded by other armed officers, while working on a roster and work schedule that tells you exactly where they will be at any particular time of the day so that they can be approached while they are sitting at their desk in their own office behind a closed and locked door then yes SWAT Teams would be redundant.
                              If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X