Why Do The Police Have Tanks?

July 9th, 2011

Via: AlterNet:

How did we allow our law enforcement apparatus to descend into militaristic chaos? Traditionally, the role of civilian police has been to maintain the peace and safety of the community while upholding the civil liberties of residents in their respective jurisdiction. In stark contrast, the military soldier is an agent of war, trained to kill the enemy.

Clearly, the mission of the police officer is incompatible with that of a soldier, so why is it that local police departments are looking more and more like paramilitary units in a combat zone? The line between military and civilian law enforcement has been drawn for good reason, but following the drug war and more recently, the war on terror, that line is inconspicuously eroding, a trend that appears to be worsening by the decade.

Posted in Police State | Top Of Page

3 Responses to “Why Do The Police Have Tanks?”

  1. quintanus says:
    July 9, 2011 at 4:33 am

    A city I used to live in got an armored vehicle. Santa Barbara also has its own ‘COPS’ TV show called On Patrol, where they show themselves arresting drunks and other activities. It has the editing style common to much of reality show television these days, where they show a clip of action, then follow up with casual interviews with participants about what they were thinking when they did the action.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoT0EjkgJzY

  2. neologiste says:
    July 9, 2011 at 12:47 pm

    in the closest city to where we live (in florida), the police department effectively does not hire anyone without a military background for officer positions.

    i liked to think it was because, in this college town, there are enough young guys who have served a tour, got a degree, and need jobs… but i have begun thinking it is a top-down order of some kind, to slowly fill the ranks with military dudes so that the part about preserving liberty *automatically* takes a back-seat to obeying orders (when the time comes).

    i’m starting to think it’s not just paranoia, either.

  3. tito says:
    July 9, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    The police have tanks because the citizenry doesn’t have anti-tank weapons.

    I’m not saying that the average joe should have AT, I’m just saying that if the police are going to have tanks, the average joe should have AT.

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