http://reason.com/blog/2014/11/25/dc...police-militar
Remember how, in the wake of some of the worst responses by the police in Ferguson to even peaceful protesters (propping themselves up on military vehicles and training sniper rifles at them) there was supposed to be some sort of discussion or debate about scaling back the federal government's role in providing military equipment to law enforcement agencies across the country? Unsurprisingly, that doesn't seem to be happening. For those who don't remember what was said back in August, here's Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) talking about it; here's Ron Paul talking about it; here's parody site Clickhole mocking it; here's citizens of Ferguson talking about it; and here's President Barack Obama notably not talking about it.
Granted it's only been a couple of months and Congress moves slowly, but BuzzFeed checked in to see that there doesn't seem to be any movement to scale back the programs that provide military-grade equipment to law enforcement agencies. They spoke with former Reason editor and police militarization expert Radley Balko:
After Ferguson, some communities began to demand that their local governments divest themselves of their biggest items, those giant mine resistant and ambush proof (MRAP) vehicles. In September, the Los Angeles Times noted that the Los Angeles Unified School District had snagged all sorts of military gear, including machine guns, grenade launchers and an MRAP truck. At the time the department said they'd give up the grenade launchers but insisted on keeping the guns and truck.Lawmakers vowed changes to the Pentagon programs that deliver military-grade equipment to local police after images of cops climbing out of armored vehicles with military-grade weapons filtered out of Ferguson, Missouri, in August.
But months later, the chaotic 1033 program — which sends surplus military gear built for combat to local police forces with little oversight — hasn't changed at all.
The 113th Congress will end without substantive changes to the program. The White House hasn't announced the results of its policy review. The flow of billions in technology designed for the battlefield to local police forces will go on unabated.
"The fear is that this is some kind of moment that passed. It's just another example of temporary interest in a crisis and inevitably things go back to normal," said Radley Balko, a prominent expert on police militarization and author of the most cited book on the topic. "Looking at the history on this issue tends to make one cynical."
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