Author Topic: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police  (Read 4731 times)

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Offline booley

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Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« on: August 09, 2013, 11:58:30 am »
Thought about putting this in the "baby deer" thread but decided this should be in a thread of it's own...

Quote
It was just past 2 A.M., in May, 2008. Wong was twenty-two years old and was dressed for an evening out, in crisp white jeans, a white top, and tall heels that made it difficult not to wobble. The couple had stopped by a regular event hosted by the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID), a red brick gallery with the aim of “turning Detroit into a model city,” and arrived to find a tipsy, jubilant scene: inside, gallerygoers were looking at art and dancing to a d.j.; outside, on the patio, several young women were goofily belting out the lyrics to “Hakuna Matata,” from “The Lion King”:
......
Only then did masked figures with guns storm the crowd, shouting, “Get on the fucking ground! Get down, get down!” (I document the basic details of what happened in my story, in this week’s magazine, about the police’s use and abuse of civil-asset-forfeiture laws.) Some forty Detroit police officers dressed in commando gear ordered the gallery attendees to line up on their knees, then took their car keys and confiscated their vehicles, largely on the grounds that the gallery lacked the proper permits for dancing and drinking. (More than forty cars were seized, and owners paid around a thousand dollars each to get them back.) 

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/08/swat-team-nation.html

The point here is not outrage at any particular incident.  Detroit has plenty of other horror stories concerning it's police force.(google Aiyana stanley Jones).

Nor is this about any one particular city.  Or any particular state.

Statistics for such raids place them as high as 80,000  a year nationwide.

Saying they are enforcing the law is no longer cutting it. 
Saying no one was hurt is an outright lie. 
Brushing these stories off as "anti cop" is willful obtuseness.
Making excuses as to why the cops had to escalate the situation (or cause the problem in the first place) adds to the problem.

Seriously, how much of this shit do we have to have before we can admit there's a problem?
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Offline mellenORL

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2013, 12:15:34 pm »
I wonder if all these rogue PD's around the country each qualify for an indictment under RICOH? That's a federal anti-racketeering law. And clearly, this trend is nothing but a fucking racket. Violent armed car jacking/home invasions/business venue invasions, property and money theft/"seizure", demanding money in lieu of court proceedings, etc. The entire MO is precisely the same as an organized gang, whether the perpetrators wear a badge or not.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2013, 12:28:15 am by mellenORL »
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Offline booley

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2013, 12:48:12 pm »
I wonder if all these rogue PD's around the country each qualify for an indictment under RICOH? That's a federal anti-racketeering law. And clearly, this trend is nothing but a fucking racket. Violent armed car jacking/home invasions/business venue invasions, property and money theft/"seizure", demanding money in lieu of court proceedings, etc. The entire MO is precisely the same as an organized gang, whether the perpetrators wear a badge or not.

Unfortunately it's generally considered legal.  Or as some would say ,  policy.

Personal horror story was when a  friend of mine who frequently borrowed my car (was even on my insurance) was stopped in Byrne's Mill, Missouri.
He had thought a red light had turned green and started but stopped again when he saw it was still red.  He was halfway in the intersection and started to back up but there was a cop there.

Next thing there are 12 cop cars and my friend is being charged with auto theft which eventually went down to "failure to register" even though it wasn't his car.   He was handcuffed on the curb as the cops searched my car.   According to the cops, this was because my friend had a "level 2 caution".  For the longest time we tried to figure out why he would have any caution with police on file.  It was weeks later that we discovered that there is no such thing as a level 2 caution.  It's meaningless. (which is why I get cynical when someone brings up police "policy".  Cops are perfectly capable of lying just like any other group of human beings)

Anyway, they confiscated the car, took off my license plates. I had to pay 80 bucks to get the car out of impound. 
The cops still kept my plates, claiming the car was not registered to my friend (and why should it be when it was MY car) the cops were total dicks about this... UNTIL I had my other friend who's a lawyer call.

The cops suddenly got real polite when they heard my friend say "this is Mr. Whatley's attorney".  They gave back the plates.  Funny though they never gave back the money I had to give them to get my car back.

Anyway, Byrne's Mill eventually lost it's police force.  There were so many complaints that the state disbanded them.  They eventually got it back. No idea if it's still as bad.

sadly with the combo of police depts buying military gear and local budgets getting squeezed, I'm not sure my story would be repeated if it happened today.
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Offline Barbarella

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2013, 03:48:20 pm »
There needs to be a new social movement addressing this.

I refuse to be paranoid or feel hopeless. There is an answer to all this but I do feel it may take a few generation to completely clear up. No doubt the Progressives are winning the Culture War. However, the Powers-That-Be are still firmly in the hands of the Regressives. These Regressives also run many big financial & business institutions. Then there's the Military-Industrial Complex.

If there's any silver lining, it is that a huge chunk of these Regressives are old geezers who'll probably be worm food in a decade or so. Younger generations tend to be more Progressive than the older generations.

That's not to say younger generations can't be just as Regressive but when guys like Murdoch, the Kochs & a few others croak, I'm sure SOMETHING'S got to give.

What we need to do is get Progressive think-tanks together and regroup. We need to rethink our strategy. Also, Progressives need to run for office more, from the bottom up. Progressives need to become The System to change it. I also think that there should be "Green Dog" Democrats. Green Party types who are Democrats. Have Greens become Democrats, and "Green-ify" & Liberalize the Democratic Party. Folks won't vote Green but they will vote Democrat. Finally, in states where Right-Wing gerrymandering is a problem, Progressives should move to those mammoth red districts and make that gerrymander scheme moot.

This whole "GI Joe Cop Of Doom" trend is certainly a sign of Regressives being...Regressive. As long as there are Progressives out there doing what they can & knowing what they know there will be hope for a kinder & better future.

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Offline TheUnknown

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2013, 04:21:37 pm »
Quote
The cops still kept my plates, claiming the car was not registered to my friend (and why should it be when it was MY car) the cops were total dicks about this... UNTIL I had my other friend who's a lawyer call.

I've heard there can be problems with cops making up laws on the spot, and detaining people for laws that don't even exist.  My mom's friend had a problem with a cop when she was in an accident because someone ran a red light.  The cop gave her the ticket for "failure to yield."  She had the green.  The other gan ran the red.  There were witnesses.  He still insisted it was her responsibility to yield.  Why even bother with the traffic light laws then?!  Did I mention my mom's friend is of Mexican decent?

Offline rageaholic

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2013, 04:23:00 pm »
Oh but you see, they have to treat everyone like potential terrorists.  People with expired licenses are really no different than serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer. 

Yeah, I've heard all the same bullshit excuses from pro cop people.  They act like if you even question the police, you must be to something.   

I used to be pro cop myself, but then I realized that they are corrupted by the same bureaucratic politics as other businesses.  They're not always in the wrong, but they are not in te right all the time either. 

Offline rageaholic

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2013, 04:31:10 pm »
As for asshole cops, I've known people who have been arrested for failing to show up for court (over the stupid war on weed).  The thing is, the notice never came in the mail.  It was an honest mistake that could have been resolved in a more peaceful manner, but instead the cops showed up at the persons house, put them in handcuffs, and dragged them off to jail for ransom bail money.  They claimed this was standard policy, but I call bullshit.  It's just cops doing what they can to get money off of people. 

Assholes. 

Offline lord gibbon

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2013, 08:52:05 pm »
My guess is that this has something to do with the glorification of the military in our culture. A lot of these cops really want to be heroes, and the culture they've been raised in tells that the way to be a hero is to violently put down "bad guys".
Excuse me, sir, do you have a minute to talk about your lord and savior, Hannibal Barca?

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Offline mellenORL

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2013, 12:41:17 am »
How is this police activity not a violation of unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

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Offline lord gibbon

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2013, 01:04:03 am »
Because TERRORISM!
Excuse me, sir, do you have a minute to talk about your lord and savior, Hannibal Barca?

Quote from: Seneca
Religion is regarded by the common man as true, by the wise man as false, and by the powerful man as useful
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Offline rageaholic

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #10 on: August 10, 2013, 02:57:32 pm »
My guess is that this has something to do with the glorification of the military in our culture. A lot of these cops really want to be heroes, and the culture they've been raised in tells that the way to be a hero is to violently put down "bad guys".

I second this.

I call it "Action Hero Syndrome".  (even as someone who enjoys a good action movie).

Offline Barbarella

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2013, 04:00:00 pm »
We need to overhaul the way society, especially American society thinks. We live in a a society that worships violence, dominance, machismo, brawn over brains, instant gratification & all-around stupidity. We have cops acting like Star Wars Imperial Stormtroopers. We have parents having massive BRAWLS at Chuck E Cheese & Little League games! Nobody wants to behave anymore.

Then when parents are acting like Conan The Barbarian on a bender & their kids the same, the authoritarian types assume it's because of "Liberal Parenting Techniques" which, in their distorted minds, consist of doing nothing & spoiling a kid and that the only solution is to double-down of the toughness & strictness...not to mention spankings with large flattish objects.

The Problem is "barbarian" the solution is "barbarian". No one ever considers emphasizing the importance of sharing, learning, communication, mediating, meditating, etc. No one cares about balance or moderation...just excess in either brutishness or authoritarianism.

It's all ANGER! AGGRESSION! MACHO! HYPER-MASCULINE! TESTOSTERONE! VIOLENCE! FISTS! GUNS! RUDENESS! RAAAAAGGGE!

It's all really childish.

On top of that we have folks in "high places" who are doing everything they can to make it nearly impossible for for folks to change this & more noble people who "get it" have tons of difficulty.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2013, 04:01:34 pm by SpukiKitty »

Offline booley

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #12 on: August 11, 2013, 02:27:35 pm »
.....

The Problem is "barbarian" the solution is "barbarian". No one ever considers emphasizing the importance of sharing, learning, communication, mediating, meditating, etc. No one cares about balance or moderation...just excess in either brutishness or authoritarianism.

It's all ANGER! AGGRESSION! MACHO! HYPER-MASCULINE! TESTOSTERONE! VIOLENCE! FISTS! GUNS! RUDENESS! RAAAAAGGGE!

It's all really childish.

.....

I have a simpler explanation (which ties into yours)

Fear.

Wantt o make people more acceptign of conservative policies?

Make them afraid.

Want to make people authoritarian followers?

Make them afraid.

Want to make people more aggressive?brutal? less caring for other human beings?

Make them afraid.

Want to make people react and not think?

I believe we have already covered this.

This is why, as much as I agree the government is abusing it's power, we need to be just as concerned with baseless conspiracy theories and "OBAMA IS HITLER!!!!" rhetoric.  It just adds to the problem.
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Offline rageaholic

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #13 on: August 11, 2013, 06:10:45 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20ArJQ2lVa4

Thought this fit in here (warning language).

It was all over an unpaid fine.  Fucking ridiculous. 
« Last Edit: August 11, 2013, 07:16:33 pm by rageaholic »

Offline m52nickerson

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Re: Swat team nation- The Militarization of the police
« Reply #14 on: August 11, 2013, 06:20:41 pm »
How is this police activity not a violation of unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

I would think they have warrants.
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