I don't get it......

[gadget99]

Hi All,

This is a bit political so please forgive me from the start.

A while back Jonn Lilyea at This Ain't Hell posted about the increasing military stance of Law Enforcement.

I posted in response how I just didn't get why Peace Officers needed to be equipped as if they are going on combat missions in Afghanistan.

To say that there were some heated responses is an understatement. Being diplomatic I backed off and said that I had meant no offence or disrespect to members of LEA.

So I have taken a very LONG time to think about the responses and flames to the post Jonn made and to others like myself that expressed concerns.

So today I can honestly say I just don't get it.

Some of the responses exampled how difficult it is to safely do the job with so much public scrutiny going on. ..... wait a minute. As a US Army Infantryman I was governed by local, state, federal, military and international law. Yet I did the job under those conditions honorably.

There was no question in my mind that if I didn't follow the letter of those legal frameworks, I would face the full brunt of the law. So what I can surmise from the responses, is that there may be a class of public servants that feel that they should not be under the scrutiny of the Public they serve.

That can really depress someone that spent 20 years of their life in defence of the Constitution and the ideals of our nation.

Has society really descended into anarchy so far that we need combat troops to patrol our streets? Or has a series of precedents created an environment where the organisations with the motto "To Serve and Protect" consider the population they serve to be so dangerous that they are at War with a portion of them. Not uphold and enforce the law. I am talking about full on using an MRAP to serve a warrant. Does this not seem concerning? Yet I may just be out of touch with reality.

The reason I am writing this today though is something more base and disturbing. You see I had repressed an experience that shattered my soul. Or to say I now understand that my soul was shattered by it.

You see? The query of the military stance of our Police has a beginning. For me it was as I said a soul destroying event in history. The tell tail signs of things to come, culminated in a breakfast. Sitting in the Rodman Chow hall, loving a Navy Breakfast before going out to Empire Range for shooting team practice. Looking up at the projection screen TV tuned to CNN. Watching my government doing something I may never agree with in Waco Texas.

Did the need to arrest one man require a chain of events that led to the death of so many? I don't think or care about the specific answer. What I do care about is the Precedent. I fear that the tenants of freedom that I gave my soul to defend may become lost.

Thank you all for letting me rant a bit.

[Kbop]

One of my favorite examples is the SWAT team used to raid an ice cream shop run by a Mennonite family. -I guess they have to justify the expense of maintaining a swat team.  Or was the use of 'overwhelming force' just a psyop tactic.
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http://www.realmilk.com/case-updates/mark-nolt/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/13/mopping-up-the-raw-milk-mob/
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WARNING OPINIONATED MATERIAL FOLLOWS 

I respect the difficulties of LEO's, but our society is changing.  Change always causes stress and LEO's are the clean up crew of our public morals.  The 50/60's Stepford wife and June Cleaver doing house work in pearls has given way to the professional woman running for high political office and holding power in her own right.  That's only one example of generational social change.  Society has to change and we (well me at least) middle aged, middle class types need to understand that.  Change causes stress and our LEO's respond.  Think of it a little like an autoimmune disease on a cultural level - over hyped over sensitive and very responsive to our political fears. 
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One way to ask these questions is simple.  are the enhanced capabilities offensive or defensive? 
One thing that struck me, watching the footage from Ferguson (from a single side of the issue), were the LEO's pointing loaded weapons at and even attacking the news media with rubber coated bullets, EROL and teargas.  if you stipulate the news media are the eyes of the people, you can read a lot into those attacks.  if you infer the police think the news media is unfair, then the attacks are vindictive and unprofessional at best.  When I was in the military, you generally didn't point a weapon at anything you didn't intend on shooting.  The police are better trained than I was about use of force and this is reflected in the difficult and confusing situations LEO's find themselves in.  BUT, the sight of a LEO wearing level 3 or 4 body armor and a KPOT in an MRAP turret pointing a loaded 30cal MG at the 'peaceful' demonstrators left an impression on me.
for my part i'll put it like this - I personally know several active and retired LEO's and work with many in my job.  we're on the same side.  Were both human and trying to have a positive effect for our society. 
I am very concerned about how the tactics have changed over time.  I probably don't believe the police reports nearly as much as I used to before the 'Rodney King' incident.  The rules of engagement seem to have changed. 
Then I see the MO Trooper who came in to calm the situation down and wish he had more of a chance to work the incident - IMHO he was having a positive effect - but the local PD didn't seem to care and even trash talked him when they thought the microphones were off.  Even the LEO's seem confused as to how to handle the situation.  Since the LEOs reflect the politics they preserve and we vote on the politicians...
I think I'll run out and vote now!

[rah45]

That's a well-thought reply, Kbop. Thanks.

[Burt Gummer]

I'm not certain about the scenario in the UK but in the US everything stems from modern drug prohibition paired with the increasing lower class.
the problems of immigration and the prison industrial complex are derived from those.

The economic policies in the US shrinks the middle class through government enforced rigged hiring practices such as minimum wage and employee insurance. this raises the number of unemployable in the open market who then turn to the black market generally centered around narcotics. and other victimless crimes such as prostitution. Since law enforcement turned from deterrence and peace keeping to a numbers driven organization. an officer with more arrests and convictions would be advanced before less. Even though the one with less caught violent criminals and the one with more arrested drug dealers.
Furthermore due to asset forfeiture laws law enforcement agencies would be able to seize (take and keep for them selves) the assets of those arrested on drug charges and not those on violent crimes. Yet an other incentive for drug enforcement rather then violent crime prevention.
Then consider that the people smoking the weed are the same ones that the police are supposedly charged to protect from harm. instead they make the dealers paranoid followed by arming themselves and becoming prone to violence in order to keep their customer base from turning on them. Inturn the increased violent capacity of the black market started a type of arms race between  law enforcement and potential criminals. and much like the real coldwar, the government spending and procurement became an institution supported by many private interests. In other words when the funding started flowing the faucet was never turned off.

Has society really descended into anarchy so far that we need combat troops to patrol our streets?

I apologize for nitpicking but the term "anarchy" does not equal "chaos" so: A ≠ B

As an anarchist I maintain that a police officers job was never to serve and protect but simply enforce the laws that keeps our government in control.

[gadget99]

I agree Burt.

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