We already knew that after 9/11, resources were diverted away from white-collar and corporate crime investigations toward counter-terrorism efforts.
Now we are learning that police forces are increasingly becoming militarized.
There is a great article about it in Forbes and another at the Huffington Post.
Read them. Why?
Even the police are concerned!
For example, there is this from Joseph McNamara, who served as a police chief in both San Jose, California, and Kansas City, Missouri: "Simply put, the police culture in our country has changed ... An emphasis on 'officer safety' and paramilitary training pervades today's policing, in contrast to the older culture, which held that cops didn't shoot until they were about to be shot or stabbed ... Concern about such firepower in densely populated areas hitting innocent citizens has given way to an attitude that the police are fighting a war against drugs and crime and must be heavily armed."
And this from former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper: "We needed local police to play a legitimate, continuing role in furthering homeland security back in 2001 ... After all, the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place on specific police beats in specific police precincts. Instead, we got a 10-year campaign of increasing militarization, constitution-abusing tactics, needless violence and heartache as the police used federal funds, equipment, and training to ramp up the drug war. It's just tragic."
Hmmmm ...
