[Vision2020] ACLU Launches Nationwide Police Militarization Investigation

[Paul Rumelhart]

Here is a story from the Huffington Post about the ACLU's project to look into the militarization of the police.  The story is too long to post here, but I'll post the link and a few paragraphs here.

Paul

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html

ACLU Launches Nationwide Police Militarization Investigation 
Posted: 03/06/2013  8:38 am EST  |  Updated: 03/07/2013  1:32 am EST


he American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched a nationwide campaign to assess police militarization in the United States. Starting 
Wednesday, ACLU affiliates in 23 states are sending open records 
requests to hundreds of state and local police agencies requesting 
information about their SWAT teams, such as how often and for what 
reasons they're deployed, what types of weapons they use, how often 
citizens are injured during SWAT raids, and how they're funded. More 
affiliates may join the effort in the coming weeks.

Additionally, the affiliates will ask for information about drones, 
GPS tracking devices, how much military equipment the police agencies 
have obtained through programs run through the Pentagon and the 
Department of Homeland Security, and how often and for what purpose 
state National Guards are participating in enforcement of drug laws.

"We've known for a while now that American neighborhoods are 
increasingly being policed by cops armed with the weapons and tactics of war," said Kara Dansky, senior counsel at the ACLU's Center for 
Justice, which is coordinating the investigation. "The aim of this 
investigation is to find out just how pervasive this is, and to what 
extent federal funding is incentivizing this trend."

The militarization of America's police forces has been going on for 
about a generation now. Former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates 
first conceived the idea of the SWAT team in the late 1960s, in response to the Watts riots and a few mass shooting incidents for which he 
thought the police were unprepared. Gates wanted an elite team of 
specialized cops similar to groups like the Army Rangers or Navy SEALs 
that could respond to riots, barricades, shootouts, or hostage-takings 
with more skill and precision than everyday patrol officers.

Read the rest here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html
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