Brian4Liberty
08-23-2014, 02:55 PM
It seems that at least one positive thing may come of the media created Ferguson circus. Obama is actually taking some action on the growing problem of police militarization. But will there be any follow-through? It's all empty rhetoric and report writing until real action is taken to stop the militarization of the Police, and to cut the associated wasteful Federal spending.
And how could the discussion be complete without a few comments from neoconservative clown Peter King, who hates us for our freedom.
Obama orders review of strategy of arming local police
MATT APUZZO and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Jolted by images of protesters clashing with heavily armed police officers in Missouri, President Barack Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of the government’s decade-old strategy of outfitting local police departments with military-grade body armor, mine-resistant trucks, silencers and automatic rifles, senior officials say.
The White House-led review will consider whether the government should continue providing such equipment and, if so, whether local authorities have sufficient training to use it appropriately, according to senior administration and law enforcement officials. The government will also consider whether it is keeping a close enough watch on equipment inventories, and how the weapons and other gear are used.
The review, coupled with proposed legislation and planned congressional hearings, opens the possibility for significant changes in Washington’s approach to arming local law enforcement agencies. Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the government regarded the police as the front-line forces in a new war. While that role for local law enforcement is expected to remain, changes may be ordered to the system under which federal grants and a military surplus program have sent gear and money to police departments, often with no strings attached, to prepare for a terrorist attack.
America got a glimpse of that gear over the past two weeks in Ferguson, Missouri, as police officers in full body armor rode military-style vehicles, firing tear gas and pointing assault rifles at protesters. Like departments nationwide, the police in the St. Louis area have been outfitted by federal grants and military surplus.
...
Such reviews would have been unlikely in Washington before the Ferguson protests, which followed the shooting death of an unarmed teenager by a police officer. For years, internal audits have raised concerns about the management and oversight of federal grants, but nothing until now has prompted the government to question the wisdom behind the programs.
...
The federal government also did not typically insist that local authorities be trained on how and when to use its new equipment.
In recent days, retired military officers have bristled at the sight of police officers in Missouri walking the streets with guns drawn, pointed at protesters.
“In the infantry, we teach ‘muzzle awareness,’” said Paul D. Eaton, a retired two-star general who previously served as the Army’s chief of infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia. “Their fingers are off the trigger. They are on the trigger guard. The barrel is either straight down or no higher than a 45-degree angle. The effort is to declare a presence, but not to declare you are on the offensive.”
Administration and law enforcement officials said the White House review would include an examination of training requirements.
...
Though violent crime is at its lowest level in a generation, and terrorism, despite fears and continuing global threats, remains exceedingly rare on U.S. soil, any effort to significantly cut police funding would be met with sharp opposition from local and state officials and many in Congress. Even if the political will to review the policies exists now, it is not clear whether it will remain when lawmakers return from vacation next month and see the midterm elections on the horizon.
...
The White House review and congressional interest come at a time when many liberal Democrats and libertarian-minded Republicans have joined forces in calling for an end to national security policies that they see as infringing on civil rights. Some of the lawmakers leading the fight against the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of American phone records have spoken out against police departments that look more like the military.
“The images and scenes we continue to see in Ferguson resemble war more than traditional police action,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a likely presidential candidate, wrote last week in Time.
But Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., a member of both the Intelligence and Homeland Security committees, dismissed that criticism and said he had seen nothing to justify scaling back federal police grants. He said there was no evidence that giving police heavy weaponry and equipment worsened the situation in Ferguson or led to abuses elsewhere.
King said he disagreed with anyone who might say “that somehow the police are the cause of what’s wrong.”
...
More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/obama-orders-review-of-strategy-of-arming-local-police/article20184933/
And how could the discussion be complete without a few comments from neoconservative clown Peter King, who hates us for our freedom.
Obama orders review of strategy of arming local police
MATT APUZZO and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Jolted by images of protesters clashing with heavily armed police officers in Missouri, President Barack Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of the government’s decade-old strategy of outfitting local police departments with military-grade body armor, mine-resistant trucks, silencers and automatic rifles, senior officials say.
The White House-led review will consider whether the government should continue providing such equipment and, if so, whether local authorities have sufficient training to use it appropriately, according to senior administration and law enforcement officials. The government will also consider whether it is keeping a close enough watch on equipment inventories, and how the weapons and other gear are used.
The review, coupled with proposed legislation and planned congressional hearings, opens the possibility for significant changes in Washington’s approach to arming local law enforcement agencies. Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the government regarded the police as the front-line forces in a new war. While that role for local law enforcement is expected to remain, changes may be ordered to the system under which federal grants and a military surplus program have sent gear and money to police departments, often with no strings attached, to prepare for a terrorist attack.
America got a glimpse of that gear over the past two weeks in Ferguson, Missouri, as police officers in full body armor rode military-style vehicles, firing tear gas and pointing assault rifles at protesters. Like departments nationwide, the police in the St. Louis area have been outfitted by federal grants and military surplus.
...
Such reviews would have been unlikely in Washington before the Ferguson protests, which followed the shooting death of an unarmed teenager by a police officer. For years, internal audits have raised concerns about the management and oversight of federal grants, but nothing until now has prompted the government to question the wisdom behind the programs.
...
The federal government also did not typically insist that local authorities be trained on how and when to use its new equipment.
In recent days, retired military officers have bristled at the sight of police officers in Missouri walking the streets with guns drawn, pointed at protesters.
“In the infantry, we teach ‘muzzle awareness,’” said Paul D. Eaton, a retired two-star general who previously served as the Army’s chief of infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia. “Their fingers are off the trigger. They are on the trigger guard. The barrel is either straight down or no higher than a 45-degree angle. The effort is to declare a presence, but not to declare you are on the offensive.”
Administration and law enforcement officials said the White House review would include an examination of training requirements.
...
Though violent crime is at its lowest level in a generation, and terrorism, despite fears and continuing global threats, remains exceedingly rare on U.S. soil, any effort to significantly cut police funding would be met with sharp opposition from local and state officials and many in Congress. Even if the political will to review the policies exists now, it is not clear whether it will remain when lawmakers return from vacation next month and see the midterm elections on the horizon.
...
The White House review and congressional interest come at a time when many liberal Democrats and libertarian-minded Republicans have joined forces in calling for an end to national security policies that they see as infringing on civil rights. Some of the lawmakers leading the fight against the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of American phone records have spoken out against police departments that look more like the military.
“The images and scenes we continue to see in Ferguson resemble war more than traditional police action,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a likely presidential candidate, wrote last week in Time.
But Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., a member of both the Intelligence and Homeland Security committees, dismissed that criticism and said he had seen nothing to justify scaling back federal police grants. He said there was no evidence that giving police heavy weaponry and equipment worsened the situation in Ferguson or led to abuses elsewhere.
King said he disagreed with anyone who might say “that somehow the police are the cause of what’s wrong.”
...
More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/obama-orders-review-of-strategy-of-arming-local-police/article20184933/