4 ms·

I read something about one of the reasons the police have become more militarized and it wasn't the reason I expected (I'll see if I can find the article and li

I read something about one of the reasons the police have become more militarized and it wasn't the reason I expected (I'll see if I can find the article and link it). It had to do with city budgets and the way they were pushed out and continued. The gist of it was, the police had to allocate spending their budget within a short time frame or the budget they had would be put into the cities "general fund" (I believe this was Seattle, as that's where I live... mileage may vary). The next year's budget would be reduced to reflect the lack of spending. In order to reduce the risk of not having enough resources, police departments would make sure to spend all of their remaining money on 'necessary' equipment for their units. They could get A LOT of military equipment for a good price because of our 20 odd year wars over season, and our love of specialized units in the police departments, it was a match made in heaven.This type of short sighted, feast or famine spending coupled with readily available surplus military equipment has lead to an ever increasing militarization of the police that has a less effective, effect on community policing and crime, statistically. But all of this is because of how our government handles its accounting practices and sells its surplus military gear. I think I heard it on Freakonomics, but I'm not sure.

0x0nyandesu 5y ago
When police do stuff like this it's just an excuse to use toys with no repercussions. They get to blow up a house with zero personal accountability. So they are either man children or cowards. Probably both. Not a great look either way.
- onepointsixC 5y ago
  This right here. Qualified immunity means they will face zero legal liability, and any sort of civil suit only means that the city or county may pay, not the department.
jimt1234 5y ago
It was/is called the "1033 Program". Obama attempted to limit the program, not necessarily stop it. But, it didn't matter, because naturally, Trump reversed all that. And it's been a steady flow of military equipment to the cops ever since.
- verisimilidude 5y ago
  These programs ran rampantly for years under Obama. He only put restrictions in place half-way through his second term because of public pressure after Ferguson. It’s pretty disingenuous to try to pin this on Trump. (And I’m no fan of Trump.) Both parties are very complicit.
- selimthegrim 5y ago
  Trump tried to veto the last defense appropriations bill that had a rider limiting 1033 because he didn’t like the bill not cracking down on Big Tech but his veto got overridden on 1/1. Five days later we had other things on our minds.

0x0nyandesu 5y ago

When police do stuff like this it's just an excuse to use toys with no repercussions. They get to blow up a house with zero personal accountability. So they are either man children or cowards. Probably both. Not a great look either way.

onepointsixC 5y ago
This right here. Qualified immunity means they will face zero legal liability, and any sort of civil suit only means that the city or county may pay, not the department.

jimt1234 5y ago

It was/is called the "1033 Program". Obama attempted to limit the program, not necessarily stop it. But, it didn't matter, because naturally, Trump reversed all that. And it's been a steady flow of military equipment to the cops ever since.

verisimilidude 5y ago
These programs ran rampantly for years under Obama. He only put restrictions in place half-way through his second term because of public pressure after Ferguson. It’s pretty disingenuous to try to pin this on Trump. (And I’m no fan of Trump.) Both parties are very complicit.
selimthegrim 5y ago
Trump tried to veto the last defense appropriations bill that had a rider limiting 1033 because he didn’t like the bill not cracking down on Big Tech but his veto got overridden on 1/1. Five days later we had other things on our minds.