<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">Paul</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br></div><h1 class="title-news">
ACLU Launches Nationwide Police Militarization Investigation
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Posted: <span itemprop="datePublished">03/06/2013 8:38 am EST</span> | Updated: <span itemprop="dateModified">03/07/2013 1:32 am EST</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><span class="posted-and-updated"><span itemprop="dateModified"></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br>he American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) <a href="http://www.aclu.org/militarization" target="_hplink">has launched a nationwide campaign</a>
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.</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br>
</div><div>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.</div><div><br></div>
<div>"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."</div><div><br></div>
<div>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.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">Read the rest here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html<br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">
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