Rise of the Warrior Cop

[Renew Deal]

Is it time to reconsider the militarization of American policing?

On Jan. 4 of last year, a local narcotics strike force conducted a raid on the Ogden, Utah, home of Matthew David Stewart at 8:40 p.m. The 12 officers were acting on a tip from Mr. Stewart's former girlfriend, who said that he was growing marijuana in his basement. Mr. Stewart awoke, naked, to the sound of a battering ram taking down his door. Thinking that he was being invaded by criminals, as he later claimed, he grabbed his 9-millimeter Beretta pistol.

The police say that they knocked and identified themselves, though Mr. Stewart and his neighbors said they heard no such announcement. Mr. Stewart fired 31 rounds, the police more than 250. Six of the officers were wounded, and Officer Jared Francom was killed. Mr. Stewart himself was shot twice before he was arrested. He was charged with several crimes, including the murder of Officer Francom.

The police found 16 small marijuana plants in Mr. Stewart's basement. There was no evidence that Mr. Stewart, a U.S. military veteran with no prior criminal record, was selling marijuana. Mr. Stewart's father said that his son suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and may have smoked the marijuana to self-medicate.
<snip>

The police tactics at issue in the Stewart case are no anomaly. Since the 1960s, in response to a range of perceived threats, law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at every level of government, have been blurring the line between police officer and soldier. Driven by martial rhetoric and the availability of military-style equipment—from bayonets and M-16 rifles to armored personnel carriers—American police forces have often adopted a mind-set previously reserved for the battlefield. The war on drugs and, more recently, post-9/11 antiterrorism efforts have created a new figure on the U.S. scene: the warrior cop—armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers, and a growing threat to familiar American liberties.
<snip>

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323848804578608040780519904.html

[ms liberty]

1. K&R...n/t

[Dustlawyer]

2. They have to beef up in response to all of the weapons we allow anyone (just about) to have!

[refrescanos]

6. absolutely. police need adequate weapons and tactics to deal with criminals.

the big question is to whether they announced themselves. In doing so, they lose the element of surprise and any upperhand against displays of force.
Hopefully they did announce and had a force sufficient to take care of the situation, which judging by the death and injuries sustained by the homeowner....they did not.

[A Simple Game]

13. This was a response to a woman squealing on her ex-boyfriend for having

a few marijuana plants. And you don't think 12 battle ready cops were enough? How many would have been enough? Did you think she squealed on the Mexican Cartel? How many can fit through the door they broke down at a time?

They would have sent more but that is probably all the fantasy dress-up clothing they could afford with the Homeland Security grant they got. Damn, would have made a great story if they could have afforded a tank, wouldn't it?

20 years ago 2 cops would have gone to the door with a search warrant, entered, searched, and left after confiscating the plants and arresting the man or writing an appearance ticket. Pretty boring story though, page 5 of the local section instead of page 1.

[snort]

15. Absolutely.

Knock knock: "hi we're cops we have a warrant yeah pot plants sorry veteran we have to arrest you"

Instead: Heavily armored battle pigs.

When I think of America I choose Mayberry over Gotham.

[refrescanos]

29. we don't know

what his girlfriend said to the police.

Wasn't Barney Fife often threatening to pull out his gun ?

[refrescanos]

27. fantasy dress up?

It's not twenty years ago. Police act different and are equipped differently to respond to the times. One police officer is dead. They did not have enough resources.

[A Simple Game]

35. Yes fantasy dress up. They were dressed up to be something they obviously weren't trained to be.

In an earlier post you stated that:

police need adequate weapons and tactics to deal with criminals.

The police found 16 small marijuana plants, that's some big bad criminal, and you think this level of criminal activity justified sending a larger force than 12 pseudo soldiers? I say it required two policemen and half of a brain. This man wasn't defending his crop from the police, he was defending his home from unknown invaders, and you know what? Sounds like he was a lot better at his job then they were at theirs. Good thing for the police he didn't have a twin brother living with him.

When you say that police act different and are equipped differently to respond to the times, have you considered the fact that people may act differently to the police and their militant tactics?

Even if all had gone well, does the confiscation of 16 small plants justify the cost of an operation that involved 12 policemen? It most certainly didn't the way it turned out. Who ever planned this operation should lose their job.

As for it not being 20 years ago? No it isn't, back then most police didn't look for an excuse to play dressup.

[refrescanos]

37. I really can't call it dress up

when people dress adequately for conditions, particularly unknown.
He was "a lot better at his job" because he knew his home, the police did not. That is why they were "dressed up"

I would think criminals will act in any way to get their way.
I don't think anyone, much less a police officer looks forward to bullets so that they can dress up.

[A Simple Game]

38. Unknown conditions? They caused the "conditions" when

they didn't announce who they were and broke down the door.

Plain and simple, they asked for what they got.

[refrescanos]

39. they asked for what they got

A dead person

[A Simple Game]

41. Yes, be careful what you ask for, you may just get it.

They were ready to shoot someone when they broke down the door without announcing themselves, they even dressed and were armed for the occasion. You dress like a clown people will laugh at you, you dress like a terrorist and break down doors, expect to be treated like a terrorist. How did the Aurora shooter dress? How did the Sandy Hook shooter dress? What would you think seeing someone dressed like that breaking down your door unannounced? Do you suppose they were carrying assault rifles?

Have they announced yet how many wounds were from friendly fire?

[Dustlawyer]

43. Police now are trained to use overwhelming force in every situation "to make sure they go home at

the end of their shift." I was talking to a cop friend and asked him why they take unarmed people down so hard, even ladies, kids... and that is what he told me. I have heard others say the same thing. They see and hear of other officers who held back some and ended up wounded or dead from people that did not seem to be a threat. They deal other a lot of crap in their jobs, and b/c of that, many take it out on us. Couple that with the fact that about 25% of cops became cops to exercise power over others and you get what we currently have.
16 plants can be worth $50,000 or more. People have died for less and usually there are a lot of big guns around pot growers. How are they to know what they may face in that situation?

[A Simple Game]

44. Using overwhelming force doesn't seem to work every time, does it?

Being a policeman isn't as deadly as many seem to think:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-of-the-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-u-s--191643548.html Doesn't even make the top ten. Garbage collector is about 3 times as deadly.

They are more likely to be killed by a vehicle:http://www.nleomf.org/facts/officer-fatalities-data/causes.html Funny how they break down by vehicle type and whether they were driving or struck by, but don't break down shot by self inflicted or friendly fire.

This one by ABC is interesting but I'm not sure of the year written:http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95584&page=1 This one mentions the lack of training.

Daily Kos has a nice collection of videos:http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/24/1077423/-SHOOT-THE-SUSPECT-is-Growing-Police-Trend-Some-Examples-Statistics

It's funny that our country has a jury system that says better to let 100 guilty go free than to convict 1 innocent person. But before you get to the jury system it's shoot them all and let god sort them out.

Funny actual statistics are hard to find, now why would that be? One site does mention an average of 30 per month. If true then in two months more innocent people are killed by police than the number of police shot in an entire year.

[Dustlawyer]

45. Thanks for the info. I know a thing or two about juries and our justice system. If you

are charged with a crime, be white, have money, and usually plead out to a misdemeanor and/or probation (they love the fees)!

[NutmegYankee]

19. fuck 'em.

Police knock and announce and wait for the door to be answered to serve a warrant. Thugs on the other hand, smash down the door and charge in with automatic weapons, shoot any pets in sight and sometimes kill children with reckless handling of firearms.

[hootinholler]

11. Bullshit. n/t

[Lizzie Poppet]

14. It's not their ordnance that's the problem.

It's the attitude and approach...their "we do what we want" viewpoint.

[Taitertots]

24. Beef up? The weapons available today are LESS powerful than the weapons available in the past

Our grandparents were able to buy brand new .50 cal machine guns and Tommy guns.

[Logical]

3. I bought this book. Amazing. But will PISS YOU OFF. Unbelievable what cops do. n-t

[NutmegYankee]

18. I've read a few of Balko's articles and studies...

Absolutely sickening and infuriating, the stuff you read in those.

A young girl sleeping on a couch set on fire by a flask bang tossed on her back, a young boy lying on the ground fatally shot right in the back with a shotgun right above him...



And never any jail time!

[Logical]

20. People put up with this because they never think it will happen to them. n-t

[Dawson Leery]

23. Indeed it is.

[byeya]

4. It was a sad day when the militarization of the police function became the norm in the USA.

Community based policing is the best - there isn't even a contender.

Look at the VA Tech massacre: the killer was on the move shooting at will and the cops, in all their protective gear, were getting briefed in an office instead of the campus police responding to the sounds of gunfire. Sometimes, usually, when you're a cop, you are required to head toward the shots instead of backing away or getting"briefed".

Community based policing is what works.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

5. Time to reconsider? Reconsider what? We don't get to choose the extent of the militarization.

[Skeeter Barnes]

7. rec

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=no+knock+raids+in+the+US

Among the links that turn up for that search is one from the Cato Institute. Yeah, it's a right wing site, but look at the map at the link.

Look at all the instances where there was a "death of an innocent" or "raid on an innocent suspect".

[hatrack]

8. How about "Rise Of The Heavily-Armed Roid-Rage Assholes"?

[pasto76]

9. "perceived threats" huh

guess you were railing about "cop killa" back in the day huh. 'the game' was just on a radio show saying fuck the police about a dozen times.

youve competely missed the videos posted here over the years where gunmen go into police stations and open fire?

you're telling me you dont know a single gun nut that has more firepower than my whole squad did while we were in iraq?

youve completely missed the daily headlines about people killing someone with guns?

whats puzzling to me is that I know a lot of people. Law abiding. vocal advocates for law and order and the bill of rights. Then a cop drives by and sometimes they say 'wish I had a sniper rifle so I could grease that pig'. Im like WTF

The real problem with language like "perceived threats" is that you, the critics, seem to choose to not 'perceive' threats the way that my good friends who are detectives and street cops do.

Maybe you all should try being a police officer these days for a few years, then come back and tell us what you think.

[RC]

12. Maybe if the police themselves would not escalate things so badly and remained "Peace Officers",

instead of playing "Military in Iraq", on otherwise peaceful civilians, these episodes would not be getting so out of hand.

[pasto76]

10. and lastly, calling them "warriors" is just this side of offensive to this iraq vet

we train to kill. They train for other things. My battery just spent two weeks training...how to kill. how to smash everything at the target grid. The gunner flips that switch (HIMARS), and everything downrange is completely fucking gone. The younger troops also got trained for the first time about dismounted patrols, finding an enemy force and who to smash them. Everything we do leads us to that end. Kill.


My civilian boss is a gun nut. He owns a 'personal defense' gun company. He's excited because he will get the chance soon to work with Army special forces. He mentioned this to me. I said cool. he kinda huffed and said 'yeah we'll see what they got'. I was astonished. Ive seen them in action in bayji, iraq. Fucking mesmerizing. my boss could see this on my face and he replied with 'yeah well cops and the prison guards that come through my courses are horrible. They can barely work a room and hit anything.

Ive said many times on this matter, when pics are posted of 'militarized' cops, that they look like kids playing dress up. Couple that with the feedback my boss recently gave me. Listen, I know 99% of you dont know about my world and that is OK. but can you even believe me just a little when I tell you that if we traded your police 'militarized' police force for an infantry battalion, you would be begging and crying in the streets for your good old PD to come back. There's no argument from me that police are more heavily armed and _some_ of them are receiving more intense training, but you have to watch the rhetoric.

The active shooter doctrine that is everywhere now - who doesnt want them to be able to handle an active shooter?!

[A Simple Game]

16. This was a reactive shooter, not an active shooter.

What would you have done if you woke up to the sound of your door being bashed in? There is no doubt that the police were the aggressors in this case. This man was a vet, maybe had the same training that would make him as poor a cop as you would. Military are trained to shoot first and don't worry about any questions later. That's why ex-military make poor cops.

[xtraxritical]

17. effing cops

[olddots]

21. action --reaction

North Hollywood Bank of America robbery then movie Robo Cop action reaction .Who wins ? gun makers , gun lobbies .

[felix_numinous]

22. This shit has to stop.

The militarization of the police AND the gun culture are two sides of the same coin.

WHO profits off of this violent nightmare but arms dealers and war profiteers. It has become obvious that these armed and dangerous organizations are a much more DOMESTIC THREAT than the phantom enemies that have been manufactured and created to validate their violence!

This Hell on Earth is of their making--the soldiers trained in terror overseas did not come back home to integrate back into a peaceful life, but are being hired to wage war on Americans. The war business has come home.

[Taitertots]

25. There are several attainable policy goals that can improve the judicial system

Make police oversight and regulation independent from the actual police department.

Make the police video tape all police activity. Technology has reached the point where this is no longer unreasonable due to cost or logistics. Multiple cameras on the cruisers, go-pros on helmets, little video cameras on the pistols and tazers that turn on when unholstered....

Make all the police tapes available to the public on the internet.

Fire any police officers that use profanity toward the public.

Pass laws that make using police authority while committing a felony a capital offense.

[Marblehead]

26. how about we test

them for steroid use

[Comrade Grumpy]

28. We are way past due for a national commission on law enforcement standards and practices.

[question everything]

30. After the Boston bombing

when police practically set the city in curfew, some wondered about using SWAT team to pursue, basically one teenager.

[refrescanos]

31. ????

I don't understand the statement.

[question everything]

32. This will explain it better

In essence, the lessons from the Boston Marathon mean that the following procedures employed in the week-long manhunt proved to be completely ineffective in apprehending Tsarnaev:

• House-to-house searches in a dragnet-style;

• Use of military-style helicopters across the state;

• Use of tanks and armored vehicles on the streets of Boston, Cambridge, Watertown, and New Bedford;

• Shutting down the city, except for limited coffee shops;

• Stopping all public transportation;

• Banning taxi service across the city of Boston; and

• Abandoning the federal Posse Comitatus law banning the use of soldiers in law enforcement.

Moreover, the use of curfews in a number of towns actually likely delayed apprehension of the suspect, as the curfew essentially took more than a million pairs of eyes off possible getaway scenes.

Veteran police investigators have traditionally rejected the dragnet because they see it as a waste of police resources, but in the post-bombing panic, politicians demanded that police on the beat appear to be doing everything they could to solve the crisis. In this case, that appearance included a curfew that amounted to searching and hassling people who were clearly not in cahoots with the bombing suspects. Police detained and searched anyone on the streets of Boston and Watertown, even searching famous local news reporters multiple times during the course of the manhunt. In some instances, news reporters received death threats from over-zealous police officers.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/15163-boston-bombing-lessons-martial-law-doesn-t-work

Don't know anything about this publication, but it is the first that I found. I also remember Bill Maher raised the question: do we really need military style police operations?

[refrescanos]

33. thanks for the info

Are you saying that the response to the Boston terrorist act is an extension of what happened with this local narcotics unit?

[question everything]

34. I don't know if an extension. Just an example of how quickly we have gotten used to

using full military-style force for fighting criminals even when it is obvious that it is an overkill

[refrescanos]

36. overkill for Boston maybe

But a police officer was killed in the article that the OP was about.

[NutmegYankee]

42. And would not have been if he had acted like a police officer should.

Knocking on the door, serving the warrant, then entering would have killed no one.

But instead, the war on drugs has given us the " no knock" warrant - and wars need casualties.

[nolabels]

40. Once upon a time they were called "the Pigs" by the counter-culture

They have since met with improved wording since the 1% has been able to consolidate so much more wealth and see the fuzz as the firewall for them.

Really it kind of seems par for course since they would need to demonstrate a greater and quicker use of force because of the numbers game they are getting behind in. It's harder to get a public to support a lot things when you take away more and more from the perceived benefits of government a give them more crap in exchange.

LAPD Shooting non violent protestors
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017132277