One of the few conservative sites that I can stomach reading on a regular basis is The American Conservative. I don't agree with everything I read there, particularly the stuff by Rod Dreher, but then again I don't agree with everything I read here either.
Even when I disagree, I find the articles well written, and reasonably thought out. Comments tend to be thoughtful, and I have disagreed without being banned (unusual for a conservative site)
John Payne's review of Radley Balko's new book The Rise of the Warrior Cop, is an article that I think many in this community would find common cause with. Follow me over for more
Payne starts with two pretty horrifying examples of how the militarization of police in the U.S. has gotten completely out of hand.
On July 15, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sent 13 law-enforcement officers to execute a paramilitary raid on a no-kill animal shelter in Kenosha. The crime? The shelter was harboring a fawn that had been abandoned by its mother and named Giggles by shelter volunteers. The shelter intended to turn the animal over to a wildlife reserve the next day, but that was not good enough for the DNR. Wisconsin law forbids the possession of wildlife, so DNR sent the heavily armed team to capture and euthanize Giggles.
Eleven days later and less than 100 miles away, staff at a nursing home in the Chicago suburb of Park Forest called paramedics after 95-year-old World War II veteran John Wrana, suffering from a delusional episode, refused medical treatment. The paramedics in turn called the police, which further agitated Wrana, who threatened them with his cane and a knife. The police responded by shooting Wrana with stun guns and bean bags fired from a shotgun. Wrana died from internal bleeding shortly thereafter.
Balko proposes that police, as they exist today constitute a standing army, and violate the third amendment. While that may be a radical proposition, there is no denying that the use of SWAT teams, the militarization of police, and the removal of our rights has gotten out of hand.
I think that there are three factors that have led to this state of affairs
1. The Drug War. - No matter what, it is stupid for a country to "declare war" in your own country, but that is exactly what we have done, and it has become more and more literal.
in the summer of 1983, when drug czar Carlton Turner and California attorney general John Van de Kamp called in the National Guard to eradicate marijuana in Humboldt County. The federal government sent helicopters and even U-2 spy planes to spot pot plants in the Northern California forests, and officers enforcing the eradication program went from house to house, kicking in doors and searching the residences without warrants.
2. Racial tensions - As most police were white, they viewed the black people in the cities as "other" and even enemy. Police became increasingly distant from the communities.
3.The Military Industrial Complex wanting to find new customers. Even small towns are being sold tanks, and once they start buying drones? fuggetabout it
So how do we unwind this? First and foremost, we need to end the drug wars - some good steps are being taken in this direction - next, we need to get involved and insist that police become a part of our neighborhoods, and not an occupying force.
It is an article worth reading, and (if you are like me) one that will scare the crap out of you