Militarization Of The Police

hyson

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Oct 19, 2008
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Get used to it.

I get called paranoid but you best believe Martial Law is around the corner.
 
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hyson

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Hell, even my small little town has a BearCat APC.
 
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HecticArt

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Oct 19, 2008
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Hell, even my small little town has a BearCat APC.
As someone who, for all intent and purpose is in law enforcement, how do you manage the dichotomy of what you see that they have to deal with today, and what you anticipate they will become?
 

hyson

Forum Jerk
Oct 19, 2008
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As someone who, for all intent and purpose is in law enforcement, how do you manage the dichotomy of what you see that they have to deal with today, and what you anticipate they will become?
It's only going to get worse. People don't know their actual rights and therefore they get trampled.
My organization has more oversight than local police forces so we can't go nuts. We have rules and regs for everything and are well trained.
Where you run into problems is with small departments with decent budgets that buy the surplus army toys. It's simply dangerous with little to no accountability.
There's no doubt law enforcement is dangerous but that doesn't give us any authority to circumvent the Constitution or your rights.
I try to keep honest and open about it, remaining pretty transparent with my views. Many co-workers don't like them and I suffer with that.
It's weird. What else do you want to know?
 

Casual Fan

Surprisingly nice
Oct 14, 2008
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Let's go back to having cops like Clancy O'Toole here.

policeman2.jpg

I mean, all the criminals have is nightsticks, right? Drug dealers and gangs don't have military-grade weaponry, so the cops don't need it either. When there's a disagreement, they arm wrestle like gentlemen. And no terrorist would ever think of pulling some naughty prank on US soil.

:rolleyes:
 

Ehilbert1

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Oct 13, 2008
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As someone who, for all intent and purpose is in law enforcement, how do you manage the dichotomy of what you see that they have to deal with today, and what you anticipate they will become?

I don't agree with what their doing but just remember how easy it is for things to get out of control. LA riots are an example. I work with law enforcement. No one wants this stuff to happen but if riots break out then what? Remember what happened to Reginald Denny? Remember what happened to young women and girls in the Superdome during hurricane Katrina?

Things can go out of control real quick and some people use what has happened to commit violent acts. Hyson is dead on about smaller departments. I don't know what the answer is but I don't like seeing Marine MARPAT camo on civilian police along with armored vehicles. This is not Iraq or Afghanistan and most civilian police do not have enough training for those environments.
 

blyons200

These pretzels are making me thirsty.
Oct 12, 2008
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The BBQ Capital
If they need to bring in the national guard then do it, but the police need to look like police and not intimidate American citizen like they are an occupying force. This is just an example of what is happening with police forces all across the country, and not just for riot control. It's a huge problem that is getting worse all the time. You do kne they banned the media from Ferguson don't you? How many civil rights can they trample in one fell swoop? You're right this isn't Iraq, it's not even the US border, it's the Midwest for Gods sake. These people have good reason to be angry. Police-SERVE and PROTECT. Military- Kick ass and take names
 
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Casual Fan

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The governor of Missouri can call down the thunder on Ferguson if he wants to. America is a republic. The state is the lowest unit of official control, not cities, towns or counties.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
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After Columbine, the movie theater, mall shootings, and other whack-job situations, I don't have a problems with cops getting APC's and heavier weapons and equipment. I think they should be required to be trained and certified if they want it for their departments. They are the first responders to situations that are a lot more violent than they used to be. There's no time to call in the Guard. Train them and develop standards that they have to be held accountable for. The camo is pretty sill to me.
 

blyons200

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Oct 12, 2008
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A mall shooter is a whole other animal compared to a kid selling dime bags out of his dorm room, or some guys playing poker in the garage.
 

semipenguin

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Oct 11, 2008
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The military is not a policing agency. Our national guard has no business in controlling riots.

Kent St was a good example of that ...
 

Casual Fan

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The military is not a policing agency. Our national guard has no business in controlling riots.

Kent St was a good example of that ...

The "national" guard is a state-controlled entity until the federal government mobilizes it. It's the perfect organization to respond to events that are too large for the local police to handle. Like anything that happens in Rural Retreat, VA. ;)
 

Casual Fan

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A mall shooter is a whole other animal compared to a kid selling dime bags out of his dorm room, or some guys playing poker in the garage.

Agreed. Those situations don't require Robocop to break out his toys. But you know, the chief of police answers to city council. If they don't like the way he runs the department, fire him.

After Columbine, the movie theater, mall shootings, and other whack-job situations, I don't have a problems with cops getting APC's and heavier weapons and equipment. I think they should be required to be trained and certified if they want it for their departments. They are the first responders to situations that are a lot more violent than they used to be. There's no time to call in the Guard. Train them and develop standards that they have to be held accountable for. The camo is pretty sill to me.

I agree. And the camo is very silly. I agree on the standards, and if the standards are nutjob standards or aren't behind adhered to, then the elected officials can fire the cops. And the governor can remove local elected officials if they won't exercise good judgement. See: Detroit and the state takeover.
 

semipenguin

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Oct 11, 2008
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The "national" guard is a state-controlled entity until the federal government mobilizes it. It's the perfect organization to respond to events that are too large for the local police to handle. Like anything that happens in Rural Retreat, VA. ;)

National Guardsmen are citizen soldiers. They are their to help during natural disasters.

They are not trained for crowd control. They should never be used for civil unrest. That's a job for police, sheriff, and state troopers.

Why don't they use guardsmen at concerts & sporting events, then?

Governor Fan, can you please call up a unit for the Justin Beiber concert tonight?
 

hyson

Forum Jerk
Oct 19, 2008
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We rely on Guardsmen during disastrous weather events, like snow and flooding...basically to keep roads closed and for rescues.

I don't think they give those poor guys guns.
 

memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
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Military, cops, they're all people with guns creating and sustaining political power. The distinctions are superficial.

On the other hand, dressing cops like Imperial Stormtroopers for no good reason is counter productive.
 
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