Associate Nov/Dec2014

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N O V 2 0 1 4 D E C
10
John Cira
THE
BLUE ARMY
POLICE
MILITARIZATION
In recent months there has been substantial media coverage on
the militarization of the nation’s police departments. The subject
matter was not focused on until the events unfolded in the City of
Ferguson, Missouri. The amount of media coverage by major news
organizations on a twenty-four seven time period gave the nation a
view on how the proliferation of military weapons andmilitary type
training has progressed among America’s police agencies.
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try. The police dressed in riot gear employed
armored vehicles, noise-based crowd-control
devices, shotguns, rubber-coated metal pel-
lets, and tear gas and assault rifles like the
military in an attempt to control the crowds
of individuals protesting.
On Capitol Hill, a Missouri Senator be-
gan leading the charge with a demand to hold
congressional hearings to examine whether
local police have become too militarized. The
Senator has stated during the hearings that
the law enforcement response in Ferguson
turned a mostly peaceful demonstration into
a “war zone.”
The response by law enforcement to
the protesters in Ferguson began to be
criticized by not only by the national media
organizations but also by local, state and fed-
eral politicians, as well as national civil rights
leaders. The level of force and the use of mili-
tary-style equipment were labeled almost im-
mediately as a problem instead of a solution.
The President, responding to these
criticisms, immediately ordered a review of
federal programs that supplied billions of
dollars in military equipment to municipal
police departments. The order comes amid
criticism from various members of Congress,
civil rights groups and national news pundits
over the heavy militarization of police de-
partments in Ferguson and across the coun-