ACLU Launches Nationwide Police Militarization Investigation

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Doppel

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...on-swat_n_2813334.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Kraska estimates that total number of SWAT raids in America jumped from just a few hundred per year in the 1970s, to a few thousand by the early 1980s, to around 50,000 by the mid-2000s.

The vast majority of those raids are to serve warrants on people suspected of nonviolent drug crimes.
...
"After the [Maryland SWAT transparency] law was passed," he continued, "we found out that there are ZIP codes in Maryland where every search warrant is served by a SWAT team."
...
And in Maryland, the transparency law has shown that police departments in the state are using SWAT tactics in precisely the ways critics have claimed: to break into homes to serve warrants on people suspected of low-level drug crimes. Many times, they're not even finding enough contraband to make an arrest. Yet there haven't been any calls in the state to reform the way SWAT teams are used.
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Seems pretty crazy to me. I think a lot of these police departments are just spending grant money to play around with machine guns and pretend they are bad ass in their armored vehicles. Using SWAT to serve nonviolent warrants as a simple matter of policy is insane.
 
child of wonder

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
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Way, way, way too much money wasted in this country on cops who spend a great deal of their time trying to protect us from ourselves.
 
cybrsage

cybrsage

Lifer
Nov 17, 2011
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Have they bothered to check the zip codes with the level of violence in the area?
 
irishScott

irishScott

Lifer
Oct 10, 2006
21,562
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cybrsage said:
Have they bothered to check the zip codes with the level of violence in the area?
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This. If, say, the Baltimore PD saw that a majority of their warrants served in a given locale were met with armed resistance, I wouldn't mind them sending SWAT teams every time.
 
Matt1970

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
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Cops go where the crimes are happening. The go full on swat for drug houses. If anyone wants to know why just watch an episode of COPS and see the firepower they usually find in those houses.
 
P

PokerGuy

Lifer
Jul 2, 2005
13,650
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I haven't seen any analysis of zip codes where the swat team is used all the time, but something tells me those are areas where there are a lot of armed violent criminals.

I do agree that the militarization of the police is a problem nationwide.
 
Triumph

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
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But...but...terrorism is funded by the drug trade, so they really need military grade police forces to arrest drug offenders, because of the chance that it will be a house full of heavily armed Al Qaeda.

How much "homeland security" money has been spent by the Federal Government to outfit these police forces so they can execute no-knock SWAT style raids on non-violent offenders?
 
Oldgamer

Oldgamer

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Jan 15, 2013
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Matt1970 said:
Cops go where the crimes are happening. The go full on swat for drug houses. If anyone wants to know why just watch an episode of COPS and see the firepower they usually find in those houses.
Click to expand...

You do realize that the COP show is edited, and for the most part sensationalized to make things appear more sinister, or more dangerous than it actually is? We don't see all the real details of what goes on with each run they make with the camera crew. Not to mention, the police running around with camera men and camera's are putting on their utmost best behavior.
 
KB

KB

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 1999
5,406
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Police used to do a stakeout so they would know what they were getting into. They would learn how many people were in the building and how much force was needed. Thats not the case anymore, its send in the SWAT team and ask questions later.

I am glad to see the ACLU at work here. Thanks to 9/11, we have tons of money going into these groups that sit around and train for the worst possible scenario. They are trained to break in and to take down, not to be patient and investigate.

A big problem is these SWAT teams often get the address or house wrong. If they break into the wrong house they can end up killing an innocent civilian, destroying property and generally depriving people of their rights.


First two links from google show: there are plenty more.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...gs-raids-wrong-home-due-to-open-wifi-network/

http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/cops-kill-dog-handcuff-kids-in-wrong-house-raid/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302935_pf.html
 
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Matt1970

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
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Oldgamer said:
You do realize that the COP show is edited, and for the most part sensationalized to make things appear more sinister, or more dangerous than it actually is? We don't see all the real details of what goes on with each run they make with the camera crew. Not to mention, the police running around with camera men and camera's are putting on their utmost best behavior.
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Of course it is edited. If it wasn’t you would have hours and hours of boredom followed by a few minutes of sheer terror. Even so they aren’t planting guns in houses for the camera.
 
Doppel

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
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Jul 19, WSJ, Rise of the warrior cop
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887323848804578608040780519904?mg=reno64-wsj

Read the bit about the guy growing weed for his personal use. No evidence of any drug dealing but a vindictive girlfriend tells the cops on him and what do they do get a warrant to search the premises after a few knocks on the door by a couple of cops? No, they go Hollywood on him. 12 idiots in full gear, one per marijuana plant. Guy injures several of them and kills one--with his handgun. He and witnesses say the police did not announce themselves as such and so his armed response would be argued by many as warranted. Stress of the ordeal after gets to him and he kills himself. IMO the police brought this upon themselves by acting like total assholes over something so petty. The article refers again to the utterly insane militarization of police in modern America, including MANY dead innocents along the way.
 
monovillage

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
8,444
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I'm glad this is being done, i'm glad it's being looked into and hope it gains some national media attention. It's just too bad it's being run by the ACLU with their lack of credibility.
 
P

Paul98

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2010
3,732
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Hopefully this will gain traction and the massive corruption in many of our modern police forces will finally be exposed.
 
schneiderguy

schneiderguy

Lifer
Jun 26, 2006
10,801
91
91
Good. Police should be armed with six shot .38s, with either a lever action .30-30 or a 12ga pump shotgun in the trunk.

AR15s and high capacity handguns
in the hands of government thugs
are only good for slaughtering innocents.
 
O

OGOC

Senior member
Jun 14, 2013
312
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Matt1970 said:
Cops go where the crimes are happening. The go full on swat for drug houses. If anyone wants to know why just watch an episode of COPS and see the firepower they usually find in those houses.
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Like how they went to the Mayor in Maryland's home and raided his house and shot both of his dogs. One of those dogs was shot while it was running away.
 
V

Vic Vega

Diamond Member
Sep 24, 2010
4,535
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This is why I suppose the ACLU and the NRA - these are the only organizations protecting our rights in 2013.
 
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