And you are so right. In fact, the armored vehicles driving into residential neighborhood is a useful clue to all who will receive it that we are dealing with some exceptionally self important individuals here. Instead of dealing with the few actual incidents of overnight looting and actual, you know, crime, these fellas will be hunkered down pitching tear gas, unless they decide to go marching though your neighborhood with rubber bullets. The only thing I would change from their equipage (okay, taking the gas away could be a good idea in this instance), would be to put them in orange instead of green.
Very good point, and true. I think the connection is that some police are more likely to consider themselves above the law when they have all these war toys. I think it helps put them in an "us vs them" mentality, instead of being a part of the community they are supposed to be serving. In the city of Atlanta, they are so desperate for officers they are even taking ones who don't pass a psychological test, and ones who have criminal records. These are sometimes the people who, with no shred of military training, are handling these war toys. For example, someone trained in military protocol would probably have not thrown flash grenades into a house with children's toys in the driveway, and no evidence the person they were after was even there. Or - I am just fine with you having a tank. I'm not ok with the officer who threatened to arrest me when I tried to get a crime report written having access to a tank. The difference is a level of training and respect for the equipment. I hope that helps explain some people's reactions.
I would think that the problem is in part that officers are not held accountable for the more minor violations where a person is arrested for what is not a reasonable charge. ie, the activity wasn't illegal, but the officer thought it was and the arrest is thus deemed valid because the officer acted in good faith. The problem is that even when it's an arrest of someone for filming the officer or something else, it's still often deemed as "in good faith". At what point is such an arrest not in good faith
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One of the greatest abuses of power is the contrived traffic stop in order discover a reason to search the car or arrest the occupants after this fishing expedition. One example is lying in wait near a bar or restaurant to make alcohol arrests. .08 is such a low BAC that people who are not impaired at that level are arrested and are ground up in the DUI system that costs them thousands of dollars and in many cases destroys their lives.
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I think the connection is that some police are more likely to consider themselves above the law when they have all these war toys. I think it helps put them in an "us vs them" mentality, instead of being a part of the community they are supposed to be serving.
In the city of Atlanta, they are so desperate for officers they are even taking ones who don't pass a psychological test, and ones who have criminal records.
These are sometimes the people who, with no shred of military training, are handling these war toys.
For example, someone trained in military protocol would probably have not thrown flash grenades into a house with children's toys in the driveway, and no evidence the person they were after was even there.
Or - I am just fine with you having a tank. I'm not ok with the officer who threatened to arrest me when I tried to get a crime report written having access to a tank. The difference is a level of training and respect for the equipment.
I hope that helps explain some people's reactions.
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