Battle Lines

With all the chatter in the news and online about the so-called “militarization of local police departments,” I decided it was time to pitch in my two cents. In the days following #Ferguson, the hue and cry has been incessant. Commentators who had previously broached the subject (of supposed militarization) nodded their heads, anxious to remind others of their brilliant insight.ferguson-police-700

Capitalizing on the current hysteria about law enforcement militarization, the ACLU released its opinion on the subject in a July report titled “The War Comes Home.” This report promotes a perception that the weapons used to fight our wars over the last 20 years have been purposefully brought from the battlefields in foreign lands to hyper-arm our home-based law enforcement units. Further, the ACLU suggests the attitudes of war are pervasive among state-side police officers, who have adopted “a warrior mentality … who think of the people they’re supposed to serve as enemies.Continue reading “Battle Lines”