Police militarization is when law enforcement officers use military equipment and tactics. This all began when the National Defense Authorization Act was passed in 1990. It increased the budget and spending funds of the Defense Department. The sharp rise in drug violence allowed the Defense Department to transfer military weapons to police departments. After the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the Department of Homeland Security gave more than thirty five billion dollars in grants to both state and local police departments between the years of 2002 and 2011. The American Civil Liberties found that the value of the military weapons used by American Police Departments had risen from one million dollars in 1990 to about 450 million dollars in 2013. …show more content…
The Federal government believes that militarizing the police will make cities safer and will reduce the rate of drug activities and crime. They also believe it will reduce the rate of terrorism. The government also wanted to find productive uses for old military equipment that was no longer needed. The equipment would have otherwise been used for scraps or sold to other nations. The Federal government thinks this is a good deal because some police departments are in need of new gear but cannot get any due to budgeting. Since the old equipment is gone the military will also have more room for new
Many years ago, the first organized American Police Department system was started in Boston, in 1838. (Dempsey & Forst, 20120 p. 7). The Boston Police Department provided 24 hour service which, was funded by the New York legislature. Most of the policeman on the force had little to no training but that changed over time as the importance of law enforcement in society became more prominent. As time progressed so did the police department 's use of technology to better equip the officers with easier means to do their jobs.
We found a federally-sponsored ‘gun show’ that never ends: small town police are armed with M16 and M14 rifles, night-vision googles, bayonets and armored trucks; junior colleges and county sheriffs procured mine-resistant vehicles (MRVs); even local park districts and forest preserves stocked up on military-style
Recently the right to privacy has been severely threatened by the Patriot Act. The USA PATRIOT ACT, which was made a law on October 26, 2001 by president George W. Bush, let criminal investigators use whatever tools necessary to find terrorist attacks before they happened; USA PATRIOT ACT is short for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001". This was made a law in response to the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center in NYC on September 11, 2001. Law enforcement officials were given better resources to fight financial counterfeiting, smuggling and money laundering schemes that funded terrorists. The Patriot Act’s definition of terrorism also gave
Number one was to define policing as a profession, meaning that the police will publicly serve and protect their communities. Number two was to cut or eliminate the potential influence with politics that it had on policing. Number three is a big one in my opinion, but inserting or hiring the properly qualified chief executives to lead each police departments going forward.
Why does police brutality happen. There has been multiple situations of police brutality. It has risen concerned around whether police do it on purpose or is it on accident. Cops are given the ability to help people but now they are ending lives. With that sort of power comes responsibilites, officers have a lot of power but, they should learn when to use power or when to use extreme force.
hree African American boys walking down the street enjoying a beautiful, spring night. They are best friends whom have all gone to school together since elementary school now in high school together. They are enjoying their senior year, about to graduate from high school but little do they know they won 't even have the opportunity to do that and to be successful in their life. A cop pulls up and yells, “hands up!” they look around confused, wondering if he was talking to them or not.
European Influence on American Policing American law enforcement influences can be traced back to the European model of law enforcement. Corruption was not born; instead it has been well documented back to France and England during the eighteenth century. The issues that both France and England encountered are very similar to modern day American police corruption. “The challenges of hiring morally sound people and providing morally sound workplaces are the most obvious” (Sherman, 1974).
"Police Brutality is a fact of American life. In Major cities across the country, officers are abusing their authority in the most flagrant ways"("Must End"). Law enforcement officers carry guns, are given special privileges and great responsibility. Public safety officers are trusted and expected to respect society as a whole. Taking all of this into consideration, do cops actually break the law?
The Political Era The police reform movement occurred in New York City in the 1840s which entailed efforts to improve policing. Although previous efforts to improve policing were made, none had such an effective impact as the murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers who disappeared for three days; her body was found in the Hudson River. The murder received a huge amount of publicity including demands for the police to solve the crime; however the police seemed unwilling to investigate the case until they were offered a substantial reward. There after the old policing system was transformed based on Peel’s model which entailed the development of an ethical police force. Some of the changes included hiring 800 officers, better hiring selections,
Ever believe that you are protected, but deep down there is a feeling that says otherwise. Many police officers follow the law and protect innocent people. But there are some out there that are the total opposite. They use force for reasons that are unjustified. Police brutality spreads out around the United States.
Weapons are deemed as a significant element for military strategies all over the world. Overtime, these illicit weapons distributed to police forces have caused injuries some at minor at levels and whilst some are deemed at extreme levels. Electronic stun devices and other less-lethal weapons are marketed as offering unmitigated benefits to both police and public safety, with this statement there are various problems also associated with these devices such as unnecessary injury and deaths. There are various intentional injuries that police officers are affected by whilst working, the prevalence of injury in the force is rather high. By the 1800s, after departments and police departments distributed weapons and demanded the use of force that
How long will we continue to reject the fact that it is racism that fuels police brutality in the United States? Racism has been a topic of in the media each day in the country. Police brutality is happening everywhere and has become more commonplace with the increase of racist police officers who are a part of a corrupt system that targets the African-American male population. Police are not killing blacks because the crimes they commit are threatening, but because of the color of their skin and the way they look. Whites are rarely killed because they appear to be innocent to the police.
The militarization of police has become an increasingly contentious issue in the United States, with concerns raised about the scope, mission, and perception of law enforcement agencies across the country. The concept of militarization refers to the adoption of military tactics, equipment, and strategies by police departments, a process which began in 1965 with the inception of SWAT teams in Philadelphia (). With the aim of law enforcement being the enhancement of capabilities in high-risk situations, this outcome was inevitable. The militarization of police has intensified and expanded since that time, with military vehicles, equipment, and weapons becoming commonplace across the country. A large contributor to this phenomenon has been the
The development of policing in the United States followed the policing model in England and developed over decades. It was not until the 1880s that the United States established municipal police forces that were present in all major U.S. cities. These municipal police forces were similar in that they had public support, officers were employed and not volunteers, the departments had established protocols and rules, and the departments were accountable to the government (Lundman 1980). Policing is said to have gone through various stages the last few decades. Hooper (2014) points out that policing in the United States has evolved through three eras: The Political Era that had close ties to politics, the Reform Era that was developed because of the deficiencies of the Political Era and then the Community Era, that focused on Community Policing.
Many believe that the Police officer have existed since the beginning of civilization. Although the establishment of the U.S. Police force is actually a modern invention. The first organized police force funded by the public, was created in Boston in 1838, which employed officers full-time. The definition of public order during the 19th century, to today has been maintained by the police force.