VIDEO: John Oliver critiques U.S. police militarization

I've been posting against police militarization since 2012, following the reporting of Radley Balko at HuffPo and WaPo. So I'm glad to see it's finally getting national (actually global) attention, and Balko is recognized as the foremost expert.

As Oliver notes, the big issue is not small-town police's Pentagon-provided equipment,  but rather how police have come to see those whom they are supposed to serve and protect as a hostile Other, and see themselves as armed Occupiers.

Militarization of America's small town police

I've commented before about the militarization of America's local police, despite the lack of any increase in crime or threats to them.

Essentially there is an arms race going on inside America: cops perceive crime to be going up (untrue) and citizens to be better armed (true); meanwhile, citizens perceive cops to be better armed and equipped (partly true), so some of them buy more guns, ammo and armor-piercing bullets to maintain an advantage over "the Man" or Big Government in case it decides to "take over" or come for their guns. Then cops see what ordinary citizens are packing and conclude they need armored vehicles and high-powered rifles, etc. to protect themselves. A highly-armed citizenry also fosters an "us against them," quasi-fascist mentality among police, instead of "serve and protect."

It's hysteria on both sides; it's a vicious circle.  And it all starts with fear stirred up by crazy right-wing rhetoric.

War comes to Pulaski County, Indiana

By Radley Balko

June 9, 2014 | Washington Post

URL: http://wapo.st/1l0Mgff

T-shirts show semi-fascist police culture

Like many people, I don't like the police.  They make me nervous.  They give me speeding tickets on empty roads.  They talk in that ridiculous, officious police-report diction.  They are inherently politically conservative.  And I doubt their motives for becoming policemen in the first place: inferiority complexes; the desire for power over others; the right to brandish a gun and use violence, etc.

Nevertheless, I admit our police are necessary.  And I'm sure, objectively, that most cops want to serve and protect people, not bully and intimidate them.  What I don't like is the increasing militarization of our police; and this separation between "us" and "them," especially in big city police forces that often look on local residents as an enemy force.

Radley Balko's article is fascinating and, at first glance, there does seem to be a connection between all these violent, semi-fascist T-shirts popular among police, and instances of police brutality and false evidence.  Check it out!

What Cop T-Shirts Tell Us About Police Culture

By Radley Balko

June 21, 2013 | Huffington Post

URL: http://huff.to/16mwFll

Military-corporate welfare grants NH town a tank

Where are the Tea Parties when we really need them? (Chasing after welfare moms, voters without photo IDs, and Mexican fruit pickers, as usual.....)

Police 'Tank' Purchase Riles New Hampshire Town

By Radley Balko

February 16, 2012 | Huffington Post

"We're going to have our own tank."

That's what Keene, N.H., Mayor Kendall Lane whispered to Councilman Mitch Greenwood during a December city council meeting.

It's not quite a tank. But the quaint town of 23,000 -- scene of just two murders since 1999 -- had just accepted a $285,933 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase a Bearcat, an eight-ton armored personnel vehicle made by Lenco Industries Inc.

[...]

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the war on terror has accelerated the trend toward militarization. Homeland Security hands out anti-terrorism grants to cities and towns, many specifically to buy military-grade equipment from companies like Lenco. In December, the Center for Investigative Reporting reported that Homeland Security grants totalled $34 billion, and went to such unlikely terrorism targets as Fargo, N.D.; Fon du Lac, Wisc.; and Canyon County, Idaho. The report noted that because of the grants, defense contractors that long served the Pentagon exclusively have increasingly turned looked to police departments, hoping to tap a "homeland security market" expected to reach $19 billion by 2014.