On 3/15/2015 Marienkaefer2 said: On 3/15/2015 Slate said: On 3/15/2015 tansy said: My complaint, and only comment on this thread, is that the police should not be armed with military equipment.
Why is that? Military equipment is good enough to use on the enemy but not American criminals? Why not?
They keyword you used is AMERICAN. Because we are not fighting a foreign enemy. These are American.neighborhoods and American citizens. Our neighborhoods should not become militarized. There is a way to handle these issues with better policing methods which are out there and are being introduced into many communities. The answer is NOT to militarize our streets. My dad was in law enforcement for 40 years, a white Irish cop in the "projects," as was my uncle. Our family has experience with this.
My family has experience in this area as well (my father was a police officer, taught law enforcement at the college level, and wrote books on the subject), and I have two points to make.
Cops need the proper equipment, including what some consider 'military' equipment, in order to protect themselves and the public. The 'bad guys' can't have more and better equipment than those sworn to protect and serve. Our streets, in many areas are becoming a war zone. Gangs, illegals, drug cartels, and it gets worse every year. There is no way we should ask police officers to show up at a gun fight, wielding knives, so to speak.
I worry that if we do equip our police to the level of militarization, they are one step closer to being engulfed into the federal or state government's possible desires for them to become an arm of the military, and that would be dangerous.
It seems to me, the answer isn't clear, and the balance very tricky. I'm not sure which answer is really in the best interest of the public, and the police force as well.
