![]() The military is an inherently violent institution.īut U.S. Its primary job-and the orientation of its training and equipping-is to defeat violent threats with superior firepower and maneuver. It goes without saying that the American military is not benign or without defect. But they seem to be making up tactics to go with the gear they've acquired. If these cops were to take a page out of the Army's book on crowd control, it would be an improvement. They're acting like extras in a Michael Bay movie playing soldiers.ĭespite their expensive costuming, the police in Ferguson are putting on an unsophisticated, unscripted performance, a copy without an original. Louis County, and all over America, are not militarized? Because the cops aren't acting like soldiers. How, then can anyone say that the police in St. Radley Balko-a Washington Post reporter with whom I have serious disagreements on many other issues-recently wrote a gripping and definitive book on cops playing army, and Glenn Greenwald's analysis today is especially poignant. The gentleman on the left has more personal body armor and weaponry than I did while invading Iraq. Police are clad not merely in traditional riot gear, but in more tactical gadgetry and armor than an invading infantry captain: I am not LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device), the last place I saw one of those was at the Iraqi detention facility. I never imagined I'd see them on a street in the United States. As a lowly midshipman on summer training, I saw them being tested at Marine Corps Base Quantico, along with other experimental field gadgets. Some of the police vehicles in Ferguson even carry LRADs-multidirectional transmitters meant to debilitate a target with a blast of sound. This is an MRAP, a mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle. Your Local Cops Are Probably Out Buying Ex-Iraq Death Trucks Right Now Louis suburbs this week to arm a Contra army. Tear gas and smoke canisters have been popped in quantities that would evoke jealousy in a Marine colonel girding his unit for practice maneuvers on a North Carolina beach. Armored vehicles with small-arms mounts are ubiquitous, as are rubber and wooden bullets. Multiple law enforcement agencies have flooded Ferguson with SWAT teams and emergency services units. Some 350-odd protesters flooded the streets of Ferguson, Mo. ![]() Day 4: Everything You Should Know About What’s Happening in Ferguson armed forces exercise more discipline and compassion than these cops. Like most tropes, it holds a grain of truth, but it's off-base in one critical respect: The U.S. As last night's institutional violence unfolded in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, an old trope came back to life: America's police have been militarized. ![]()
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