War on Terror has come home: Unreal stats

[tinydancer]

As many are finally becoming aware that our men in blue aren't in blue but in full scale combat gear these days Salon lays out some very chilling facts based on findings by the ACLU, the New York Times.

Disturbing to say the least. I know I've been witnessing an escalation of militarization of not only the police but of government agencies as well.

And although the bulk of this is occurring "in the Obama era" NYT piece the blame goes right across the board because all local governments and state governments are footing the bill for this equipment along with federal monies.

I think it's time to really put representatives from all levels on the hot seat. And if they weren't directly responsible for the funding, they were at the very least at fault for not being aware of what has become the militarization of the police and government agencies.

Bi partisan rant here.

Solid article at Salon that links to the NYT.

11 chilling facts about America's militarized police force (Credit: Reuters/Philip Andrews)

The “war on terror” has come home–and it’s wreaking havoc on innocent American lives. The culprit is the militarization of the police.

The weapons used in the “war on terror” that destroyed Afghanistan and Iraq have made their way to local law enforcement. While police forces across the country began a process of militarization complete with SWAT teams and flash-bang grenades when President Reagan intensified the “war on drugs,” the post-9/11 “war on terror” has added fuel to the fire.

Through laws and regulations like a provision in defense budgets that authorize the Pentagon to transfer surplus military gear to police forces, local law enforcement are using weapons found on the battlefields of South Asia and the Middle East.

A recent New York Times article by Matt Apuzzo reported that in the Obama era, “police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines;

thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.”

The result is that police agencies around the nation possess military-grade equipment, turning officers who are supposed to fight crime and protect communities into what look like invading forces from an army.

And military-style police raids have increased in recent years, with one count putting the number at 80,000 such raids last year.

In June, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought more attention to police militarization when it issued a comprehensive, nearly 100-page (appendix and endnotes included) report titled,“War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing.”

Based on public records requests to more than 260 law enforcement agencies in 26 states, the ACLU concluded that “American policing has become excessively militarized through the use of weapons and tactics designed for the battlefield” and that this militarization “unfairly impacts people of color and undermines individual liberties, and it has been allowed to happen in the absence of any meaningful public discussion.”

11 chilling facts about America?s militarized police force - Salon.com

 

[PaintMyHouse]

It's funny, they actually look like little boys playing at war. I'm betting their thinking isn't far off of that...

 

[Plasmaball]

This is just the military industrial complex finding a new place to make money....dont hate the free markets.

 

[tinydancer]

It's funny, they actually look like little boys playing at war. I'm betting their thinking isn't far off of that...

I know. That's the scary part.

 

[Mustang]

It's funny, they actually look like little boys playing at war. I'm betting their thinking isn't far off of that...

They're going to keep us safe if they have to beat us into submission in order to do it.

 

[Valerie]

you prefer our police dressed as sitting ducks vs potential assault weapon mayhem??

 

[Valerie]

The following timeline examines law enforcement's experience with assault weapons since the federal ban lapsed:

March 2, 2011—"There is no reason that a peaceful society based on the rule of law needs its citizenry armed with 30-round [ammunition] magazines," states Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck during a news conference." Such magazines transform a gun "into a weapon of mass death rather than a home protection-type device," Beck notes.

February 26, 2011—Referring to increasing seizures of semiautomatic assault weapons that are trafficked in from outside states, Brockton (Massachusetts) Police Department Captain Emanuel Gomes says, "We're literally outgunned. You're talking about the kind of firepower that can go through vehicles, through vests, and that can literally go through a house."


January 16, 2011—After one of his officers is ambushed by a teenager wielding a semiautomatic AR-15 and fired at 26 times, Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty tells The Oklahoman, "There are just more and more assault rifles out there, and it is becoming a bigger threat to law enforcement each day. They are outgunned." Citty states that he sees "no practical reason" why a civilian would need an AR-15 or similiar military-style weapon.

November 21, 2010—Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda states,"In my opinion, [AK-47 rifles and other high-powered semiautomatic assault weapons] exist for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to kill."


November 15, 2010—After losing his son and another officer in a shootout to sovereign citizens armed with a semiautomatic AK-47, West Memphis [Arkansas] Police Chief Bob Paudert purchases 30 AR-15s for use by patrol officers in the field. "We're going to protect our officers," he says. "Our times have changed. And we've got to change with our times. We cannot allow our officers to continue to be killed."


October 25, 2010—Ten national law enforcement organizations form the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence. Founding members are the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Major Cities Chief Association, National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriffs' Association, Police Executive Research Forum, and the Police Foundation. The partnership is described as "an unprecedented joint effort by law enforcement leaders to address gun violence in an era of shrinking law enforcement budgets and rising levels of officer deaths." In their Statement of Principles, the new coalition states, "As law enforcement organizations, we believe the level and lethality of gun violence directed at police officers requires an organized and aggressive response from policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels."

July 16, 2010—Following the shooting of Philadelphia police officer Kevin Livewell by gunmen wielding two semiautomatic assault rifles (an AK-47 and SKS) with 30-round magazines, Philadelphia Policy Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross tells the media, "These are state-of-the-art weapons ... My firearms experts over here tell me that...no body armor that we have would have saved our officers from these weapons here. I mean, in fact, many of them are capable of slicing through a vehicle. This is just how deadly these weapons are." Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey describes the SKS rifle as "a very high-powered weapon capable of firing numerous rounds—very, very quickly and very, very deadly."

May 2010—A survey by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) of 164 police departments serving 100,000 or more people finds that 37% have seen an increase in the use of assault weapons in street crime. 38% report seeing an increase in the use semiautomatic firearms that accept high-capacity ammunition magazines in street crime.


January 7, 2010—Disgruntled employee Timothy Hendron, 51, enters ABB Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri and opens fire on his co-workers. Armed with two handguns, a shotgun, and a semiautomatic AK-47 rifle with high-capacity ammunition magazines, Hendron fires approximately 115 rounds, killing three and wounding five before taking his own life. Patrol officers initially arriving at the scene are held back from entering the plant. St. Louis Police Chief Daniel Isom explains, "Our officers...didn't have sufficient weapon systems to engage a person with an AK-47." One of the first officers to arrive on the scene, Lt. Alana Hauck, later recalls, "I got home, and my 4-year-old daughter comes and gives me a hug ... That's when it hits you, this guy had a high-powered rifle. The worst could have happened, and I could've never got that hug."

September 13, 2009—"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't scary" to face off against someone with an assault rifle, says Columbus [Ohio] Police Department Officer Chris Billman, 34, who was among those fired at during a 2004 incident [when Al Awwal Knowles, wanted in a double shooting, began firing an AK-47 from his Jeep while officers pursued him through Columbus' North Side neighborhoods]. "Handguns are dangerous, but you have a different perspective when someone is firing rounds from an AK-47. Potentially, your vest won't stop it and your car won't stop it."

July 30, 2009—After a shootout between gangs, Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis tells the Boston Globe, “[A semiautomatic AK-47 rifle] can lay down a lot of fire in an urban area where there is basically no cover from it. You can conceal yourself from these weapons, but they’ll rip through a car. They’ll rip through a telephone pole. They can rip through just about anything in an urban environment. Everybody understands when they read the morning paper that you have to push as much as you can to get these guns off the street."

July 13, 2009—After a birthday party shootout involving a semiautomatic AK-47 in which two young people were killed and 10 wounded, Miami Police Chief John Timoney tells ABC News, "For me it's a no-brainer. These are weapons of war. Under no circumstance do they belong in the cities of America. Now police officers are facing—and citizens are facing—these assault weapons. If we don't stop it now, what's it going to look like 10 years from now? Rambo becomes reality."

June 8, 2009—Criminal Christopher White ambushes Chesapeake, Virginia police officers from the back of a van with a semiautomatic AK-47, firing at least 30 rounds. Two rounds from the rifle go through Officer Sean Fleming's Jeep before piercing his bullet-resistant vest, injuring him. "[Fleming] was still seated in the vehicle when he was assaulted," Chesapeake Police Major T.D. Branch says. "Those type of weapons, depending on what kind of rounds, typically penetrate metal. They're pretty powerful."


May 11, 2009—“The fact that we have these relatively cheap, assault weapon-type firearms out there, it's not only a hazard to the public, but in particular to police officers,” said Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York, who declared his support for renewing the federal Assault Weapons Ban. “It's proof that they continue to get into the hands of irresponsible people … It's a weapon of war, not of sport. I'm sure it will be a political battle, but the officers are out in the street fighting that battle every day.”


May 4, 2009—Marion County sheriff's deputies Roderic Marques and Matthew Nasworth chase criminal Victor Walker for approximately one mile after he flees during a traffic stop (Walker had commited a botched armed robbery at a Burger King earlier that day). Walker comes to a stop and opens fire on the deputies in their two vehicles with a semiautomatic AK-47 rifle. Bullets tear through the front of Nasworth's vehicle and out the back, shredding everything they hit in between. Nasworth manages to get off only a single shot with his .45 caliber pistol and survives by pushing his torso under his steering wheel and behind the dashboard. Marques, who also cowered behind his dashboard, recalls, "I had two choices. I either back up or start engaging him. I remember it going through my head: 'I'm overpowered. The firepower is too much.'"


March 21, 2009—An Oakland Police Department SWAT team follows violent criminal/rapist Lovelle Mixon into his sister's bungalow apartment after Mixon shoots and kills two police officers following a routine traffic stop. Mixon lies prone in a back bedroom closet with a semiautomatic SKS assault rifle, firing through the door and walls of the closet at officers as they approach the room. He kills two more officers before being shot dead. An attorney representing officers involved in the incident, Harry Stern, describes their actions that day as "a remarkable display of heroism and gallantry in the face of unfathomable destruction."

February 5, 2009—Major John Clark of the Charleston County Sheriff's Office tells WCSC-TV: "It really makes us worry a lot, particularly when you consider the number of rounds fired during this homicide the other night. We were going up there with handguns, with Glocks. This guy has an AK-47. If a police officer had come up in that area, he would have definitely been outgunned. These are killing machines. They are not designed for recreational use." The sheriff's office announces that some of its deputies have received permission to patrol carrying their own semiautomatic assault rifles.

December 29, 2008—In a press release, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund notes, “2007 was a wake-up call for law enforcement in our country, and law enforcement executives, officers, associations and trainers clearly heeded the call, with a renewed emphasis on officer safety training, equipment and procedures. The reduction in firearms-related deaths is especially stunning, given the tremendous firepower possessed by so many criminals today.” The release states that one reason for the decline is "more officers wearing bullet-resistant vests over the past 20 years—vests have saved more than 3,000 law enforcement lives."

August 27, 2008—Regarding the trend of North Carolina law enforcement recovering more military-style assault weapons at crime scenes, Franklin County Sheriff Pat Green tells WRAL-TV, "I've been in this business 25 years, and it's just getting worse."

June 1, 2008—Gunman David Delich (described as having "severe mental problems") leads Tucson police officers on a crosstown car chase after firing more than 80 rounds from an assault rifle at several residential houses. During the chase, Delich kills officer Eric Hite with a shot to th head and wounds two Pima County sheriff's deputies. When Delich surrenders and investigators search his car they find three assault rifles and two handguns. "He had dozens of magazines fully loaded and thousands of rounds," says Rick Kastigar, the Pima County Sheriff's Criminal Investigations Chief.

June 10, 2008—The Fort Lauderdale Police Department purchases 100 Colt AR-6520 rifles “to provide officers adequate equipment to effectively resolve violent incidents.”

May 17, 2008—Hundreds of officers with the Washington, D.C. Police Department are issued AR-15 rifles. The D.C. police department's decision to arm patrol officers with semiautomatic rifles is promoted by commanders as a way to stay ahead of criminals. "We want to be prepared," says D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. "I want officers to have what they need to be safe."

May 6, 2008—Thomas Krajewski, Sr., who held Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski of the Philadelphia Police Department in his arms after he was shot and mortally wounded by a semiautomatic SKS assault rifle, tells the Philadelphia Daily News, “There is absolutely no reason that anyone should be carrying around military-style assault weapons. I mean, we saw what a weapon like that did to a human body. I mean, I own guns and my sons and I hunt as well, but I don’t have assault rifles or anything. There’s no need for it.”

April 3, 2008—The Associated Press reports that since 1993, the year before the federal Assault Weapons Ban took effect, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has recorded a more than sevenfold increase in the tracing of 7.62x39mm guns (which includes semiautomatic AK-47s) from crime scenes. The number of AK-type guns traced rose from 1,140 in 1993 to 8,547 in 2007. From 2005 (the first full year after the ban's expiration) through 2007, ATF recorded an 11% increase in such tracings. "We're in an arms race," says Chaska, Minnesota Police Chief Scott Knight, the Chairman of the Firearms Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

April 3, 2008—Days before the ambush of Miami police officer Jose Somohano, who is shot and killed with a semiautomatic AK-47 on September 13, 2007, Miami Police Chief John Timoney agrees to let patrol officers carry assault rifles to help counter the use of such weapons by criminals. John Rivera, president of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association, pleads for the same for officers in the Miami-Dade Department, which protects more than 1.4 million people around the city. "It's almost like we have water pistols," he says.

March 16, 2008—“It doesn’t matter what body armor you wear,” says ATF Special Agent Tom Mangan about the ammunition fired by a semiautomatic AK-47 rifle. “That round is going through the door, through the vest and right out the other side … It’s just like a hot knife through butter.”

January 15, 2008—Miami Police Chief John Timoney tells the Miami Herald that semiautomatic assault weapons have become "the weapon of choice among gangs here." “They’re everywhere,” he says. “At $100 or $200, everyone can afford one of these killing machines.”

December 15, 2007—The Gainesville Police Chief announces that it will be considering arming all patrol officers with semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 or Mini-14. "When we get into a situation where the bad guys are carrying heavy weaponry, then we start to worry that we don't have enough firepower," says Gainesville Police Lt. Brian Helmerson, the commander of the agency's Operational Skills Unit and Advanced Law Enforcement Rifle Team . "We would need something to at least equal or surpass their weapon capabilities. They have greater firepower than we do."


November 8, 2007—Miami-Dade County police union chief John Rivera tells the Miami Herald that while he supports the right to bear arms, "I do not believe there's a place in society for certain assault weapons. An AK-47 is one of them. It was blue-printed for war.'"

November 6, 2007—"It's not nice we have to arm ourselves like the soldiers in Iraq," says Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Laurie Pfeil, who carries a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle (the civilian verison of the military's M-16 rifle) as part of her road patrol duties. "We are like soldiers. It is a war."iacp 2007 report

April 9-11, 2007—The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) releases a report following its 2007 Great Lakes Summit on Gun Violence. The report makes the following recommendation: "Anecdotal evidence from law enforcement leaders around the country suggests that military-style assault weapons are increasingly being used against law enforcement and by drug dealers and gang members; unfortunately, current restrictions on the release of ATF trace data make it impossible to know how often these firearms are being used in crimes. Law enforcement officials, municipal officials and public health and safety officials should support and promote an effective ban on military-style assault weapons."


Feburary 19, 2007—An informal survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police of 20 police departments across the country finds that since the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban in 2004 all of them have either added assault weapons to officers' patrol units or replaced existing weaponry with semiautomatic, military-style firearms.

February 2007—Analyzing accounts in the news media, the Violence Policy Center documents 64 incidents in which law enforcement officers were confronted by gunmen with semiautomatic assault weapons between March 1, 2005 and February 28, 2007. In 16 of these incidents law enforcement officers were shot; four times fatally.

August 24, 2006—San Francisco police tell ABC-7 that they are now seizing 100 guns from crime scenes every month, many of them semiautomatic assault weapons such as Mac-9s, Mac-10s, AK-47s, etc. San Francisco Police Deputy Chief Morris Tabak says that about five percent of the firearms seized are assault type weapons, adding, "These are what could be described only as anti-personnel weapons." San Francisco Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes says, "Just about every crook you run into out there is a drug dealer or a gang banger's got one of these weapons. And it's putting our officers' lives at risk."

August 5, 2006—Dade County, Florida law enforcement reports seeing more assault weapons being used in crimes. Miami homicide detective Lt. John Buhrmaster explains the trend in the following terms: "Inflicting fear with power. That's a big factor why those assault rifles are being used." Citing the expiration of the federal Assault Weapons Ban, Miami Detective Delrish Moss says, "The fact that it is easier to obtain them legally is a problem because they end up in the hands of criminals." "There was nothing positively gained by the lifting of the ban on assault weapons by the government," adds Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker.


June 7, 2005—The Chicago Police Department reports a 10% increase in the number of assault weapons seized from crime scenes since the federal Assault Weapons Ban expired. Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline states, "These are guns that can shoot up to 30 rounds with a couple pulls of the trigger and it puts our police in grave danger out there. So we’d like still to see some kind of ban, either by the state or federally."

August 9, 2004—States United to Prevent Gun Violence gathers a list of over 1,900 police chiefs, sheriffs, and county prosecutors who support "renewing and strengthening" the federal Assault Weapons Ban. Some of the names on the list include Chief John Wilson of Montgomery, Alabama; Chief Randy Henderlite of the Glendale, Arizona Police Department; the Greenwood, Arkansas Police Department; Cam Sanchez, president of the California Police Chiefs Association; the Daytona Beach, Florida Police Department; the Cicero, Illinois Police Department; Baltimore City, Maryland Police Commissioner Kevin Clark; Colonel Tadarial Sturdivant of the Michigan State Police; the East Rutherford, New Jersey Police Department; the Nassau County, New York Police Department; the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Police Department; and San Antonio, Texas Police Department Chief Albert Ortiz.

June 2004—A study commissioned by the Department of Justice finds, "Attacks with semiautomatics—including assault weapons and other semiautomatics equipped with large capacity magazines—result in more shots fired, more persons hit, and more woundeds infliced per victim than do attacks with other firearms." The study also reports, "Assault weapons account for a larger share of guns used in mass murders and murders of police, crimes for which weapons with greater firepower would seem particularly useful."

April 27, 2004—Standing with other law enforcement leaders from across the country to demand renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton states, "There is a reason that these [assault] weapons are so appealing to criminals. They are designed to be easily concealed and kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Congress must act and act now to protect the American public and our police officers from these deadly weapons. This is about public safety and law enforcement."



What Law Enforcement Says About Assault Weapons - Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
http://csgv.org/issues/assault-weapons/what-law-enforcement-says-about-assault-weapons

http://www.usmessageboard.com/politics/268608-poll-what-should-we-do-with-guns-5.html#post6542215

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Quick question, why was Salon.com and all these other Progressives websites calling Alex Jones, Constitutionalists, and Libertarians "tin-foil hat" conspiracy theorists when we have been saying this since 2001?

Better late than never.

Also, does Salon.com still endorse gun control and confiscation by these same tyrants?

 

[Plasmaball]

you prefer our police dressed as sitting ducks vs potential assault weapon mayhem??

and misses the point

 

[Katzndogz]

There is no militarization of the police. The police are still armed with smoke bombs and rubber bullets against thugs with real bullets and molotov cocktails.

The objection isn't against the weapons. The police are already disarmed. The objection is against the protective gear that the police have. They aren't exposed enough. Get rid of the body armor so the real bullets have some penetrating power. Get rid of the helmets so the bricks and rocks have something to hit. Patrol cars are easily smashed and set on fire. Not so with armored personnel carriers
The complaint isn't that the police are militarized. It's that they are not vulnerable enough.

 

[cutter]

There is no militarization of the police. The police are still armed with smoke bombs and rubber bullets against thugs with real bullets and molotov cocktails.

The objection isn't against the weapons. The police are already disarmed. The objection is against the protective gear that the police have. They aren't exposed enough. Get rid of the body armor so the real bullets have some penetrating power. Get rid of the helmets so the bricks and rocks have something to hit. Patrol cars are easily smashed and set on fire. Not so with armored personnel carriers
The complaint isn't that the police are militarized. It's that they are not vulnerable enough.

Do you think the guy manning the 50cal on top of the APC loaded it with rubber bullets?

 

[HenryBHough]

Is it at all surprising that liberals favour crime and criminals?

I mean, isn't that wot they do best? Well, best after lying......

 

[RKMBrown]

As many are finally becoming aware that our men in blue aren't in blue but in full scale combat gear these days Salon lays out some very chilling facts based on findings by the ACLU, the New York Times.

Disturbing to say the least. I know I've been witnessing an escalation of militarization of not only the police but of government agencies as well.

And although the bulk of this is occurring "in the Obama era" NYT piece the blame goes right across the board because all local governments and state governments are footing the bill for this equipment along with federal monies.

I think it's time to really put representatives from all levels on the hot seat. And if they weren't directly responsible for the funding, they were at the very least at fault for not being aware of what has become the militarization of the police and government agencies.

Bi partisan rant here.

Solid article at Salon that links to the NYT.

11 chilling facts about America's militarized police force (Credit: Reuters/Philip Andrews)

The “war on terror” has come home–and it’s wreaking havoc on innocent American lives. The culprit is the militarization of the police.

The weapons used in the “war on terror” that destroyed Afghanistan and Iraq have made their way to local law enforcement. While police forces across the country began a process of militarization complete with SWAT teams and flash-bang grenades when President Reagan intensified the “war on drugs,” the post-9/11 “war on terror” has added fuel to the fire.

Through laws and regulations like a provision in defense budgets that authorize the Pentagon to transfer surplus military gear to police forces, local law enforcement are using weapons found on the battlefields of South Asia and the Middle East.

A recent New York Times article by Matt Apuzzo reported that in the Obama era, “police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines;

thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.”

The result is that police agencies around the nation possess military-grade equipment, turning officers who are supposed to fight crime and protect communities into what look like invading forces from an army.

And military-style police raids have increased in recent years, with one count putting the number at 80,000 such raids last year.

In June, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought more attention to police militarization when it issued a comprehensive, nearly 100-page (appendix and endnotes included) report titled,“War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing.”

Based on public records requests to more than 260 law enforcement agencies in 26 states, the ACLU concluded that “American policing has become excessively militarized through the use of weapons and tactics designed for the battlefield” and that this militarization “unfairly impacts people of color and undermines individual liberties, and it has been allowed to happen in the absence of any meaningful public discussion.”

11 chilling facts about America?s militarized police force - Salon.com

We're the government and we're here to help you.

 

[tinydancer]

you prefer our police dressed as sitting ducks vs potential assault weapon mayhem??

My issue isn't so much with the weaponry, but the mindset. And consequently poor decision making because of such a mindset.


If our police departments and government agencies begin to morph into a military mindset we the people who they signed up to protect and to serve become "the enemy".

This type of thinking goes on in every day life.

For example in our correctional systems here in Canada, those who work in the prison system view the prisoners as "their clients" and all of us on the outside are considered the "currently non incarcerated".

Here's a perfect example of a "bad choice" to go full boar in a situation.

SWAT team throws a stun grenade into a toddler's CRIB during drugs raid leaving him in a coma with severe burns

Wisconsin mother Alecia Phonesavanh and her 19-month-old son, Bou, were visiting her sister-in-law in Atlanta, Georgia
They were all asleep when police raided the home early Wednesday
Phonesavanh said officers threw a grenade, which landed in her baby's crib and exploded in his face
The child was seriously injured and was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital's burn unit where doctors placed him in a medically induced coma
Most photographs of the baby's burns are too graphic to show
Police said a multijurisdictional drug unit issued a warrant and organized the SWAT operation

Before a police departments "bad choice" to up the ante and go military:

After they went in a blazing:

More at link:

SWAT team throw stun grenade into baby's CRIB during drugs raid leaving him in coma | Mail Online

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

you prefer our police dressed as sitting ducks vs potential assault weapon mayhem??

We prefer not to have our ducks roasted.

 

[Crystalclear]

What is so bad about a good-armed law enforcement?

 

[RKMBrown]

What is so bad about a good-armed law enforcement?

Define good-armed. That's a new one on me.

 

[Avatar4321]

The militarization of the police is a concern. So is the fact that people act in a way that we need them militarizing.

The time is coming where we will have violence in the streets because people have chosen to outsource their lives to a politician or bureaucratic instead of governing themselves. When people don't govern themselves, they become ungovernable and violence is a result.

If that happens it will take the blood of alot of good and bad men before people is reestablished. That is precisely why we need to be preparing our hearts and minds. Let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly and let your bowels be filled with charity for your fellow man. Because if you don't sow light and goodness in your lives, you will reap evil and darkness and bitterness instead.

 

[tinydancer]

Here's an example of militarization of a government agency. It is important to note that it is not just the police who have been militarized.

This is beyond the pale. And this is what happens when you give wankers too much power. The display of government force used over a fawn should alarm anyone in their right minds.

Armed agents raid no-kill animal shelter to euthanize baby deer (VIDEO)

Two weeks ago a small army of agents showed up at the Society of St. Francis, a no-kill animal shelter in Kenosha, Wisconsin. While it appeared as if the fully armed agents were ready to bust a small drug operation, it turns out that they conducted the raid to capture and euthanize a 2-week-old baby deer.

“It was like a SWAT team. Nine DNR agents and four deputy sheriffs, and they were all armed to the teeth,” shelter employee Ray Schulze told a local news station.

Schulze explained that the fawn had been brought to the shelter, which is just miles from the Illinois border, by a family who thought that the animal had been abandoned by its mother. The small deer, still adorned with white spots, was named “Giggles” because, “When it made a little noise, it sounded like it was laughing,” Schulze said.

Giggles was due to be taken to a wildlife animal refuge the day following the shelter raid, but got carried away from the no-kill shelter in a body bag instead.

Armed agents raid no-kill animal shelter to euthanize baby deer (VIDEO)

Now what is really important to note is how far this agency went to dispatch the fawn. Aerial photos. Surveillance missions. This is Barney Fife on steroids. Over the top and out of line.

A search warrant was obtained after the game warden prepared an affidavit, which included aerial photos of the shelter and accounts of surveillance missions in which agents described being able to see, from the cover of a nearby wooded area, the baby deer going in and out of the barn.

 

[Jarlaxle]

you prefer our police dressed as sitting ducks vs potential assault weapon mayhem??

I would bet that there are three rifles and a pistol in my safe that would put a round through that body armor like paper...and none are what most would call an "assault weapon"!