Jeffrey St. Clair: Dave Lindorff on Police Militarization in America — In Many Communities Cops Are the Terrorists — And Armed by the US Military

August 14, 2014

Police Militarism in America

In Many Communities Cops are the Terrorists

by DAVE LINDORFF

CounterPunch, 14 August 2014

The apparent murder by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, of Mike Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black youth who was shot a number of times while he was allegedly on his knees with his hands up in the air, pleading “Don’t shoot, I’m not armed,” is exposing everything that is wrong with policing in the US today.

The Ferguson Police Department, reportedly nearly all white, patrols a St. Louis suburban community that is largely African-American, which is already a recipe for disaster in a country that is drenched in racism. The Ferguson PD is also reportedly using the kind of aggressive policing — arresting people over minor infractions — that can quickly escalate into violent confrontations. In this case, it appears Brown’s offense was jay-walking and perhaps talking back to the police officer — the first being a citation offense, and the second not even illegal.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: The day will come when an incident like this, in a black community, brings in a flood of white armed citizens who begin killing anyone wearing a uniform. Law enforcement in the USA, beginning with the militarization of the police, passing through the idiot plans to federalize local police and incarcerate up to 5,000 citizens in one fell swoop, and finishing with the complete ineptitude of the FBI, is OUT OF CONTROL. Law enforcement only works when 90% of the citizens consider it legitimate and allow it to focus on the 10%. When that “grace” is lost, law enforcement is a losing proposition in every sense of the word.

See Also:

How Congress Helped Create Ferguson’s Militarized Police: It all goes back to 1990 (NationalJournal)

Critics slam ‘militarization’ of police (Politico)

Ferguson and the Militarization of Police (US News & World Report)

The Militarization of U.S. Police: Finally Dragged Into the Light by the Horrors of Ferguson (The Intercept)

Police Militarization Is a Problem the Left and Right Can Agree About — and Solve (New York)