Jeremy Scahill: U.S. Cities Increasing Use of Armed Mercenaries to Replace Police

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



U.S. Cities Increasing Use of Armed Mercenaries to Replace Police

By Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports. Posted April 24, 2009.

Some estimate that private security inside the US actually outnumber police 5-to-1.



The United States is in the midst of the most radical privatization agenda in its history. We see this in schools, health care, prisons, and certainly with the US military/national security/intelligence apparatus.

There are almost 200,000 "private contractors" in Iraq (more than U.S. soldiers) and President Barack Obama is continuing to use mercenaries there and in Afghanistan and Israel/Palestine. At present, 70 percent of the U.S. intelligence budget is going to private companies.

This privatization trend is hardly new, but it is accelerating. While events such as the Nisour Square massacre committed in September 2007 by Blackwater operatives in Baghdad show the lethal danger of unleashing mercenary forces on foreign soil, one area with the potential for extreme abuses resulting from this privatization is in domestic law enforcement in the U.S.

Many people may not be aware of this, but since the 1980s, private security guards have outnumbered police officers.

"The more than 1 million contract security officers, and an equal number of guards estimated to work directly for U.S. corporations, dwarf the nearly 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States," according to the Washington Post. Some estimate that private security operate inside the U.S. at a 5-to-1 ratio with police. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/138180/u.s._cities_increasing_use_of_armed_mercenaries_to_replace_police/

[zipplewrath]

1. Quick switch

I'm always concerned when a news report "switches units" and combines different groups to swell numbers. The headline talks about "armed security guards". The body of the report make the claim "1 million contract security officers". What makes me think that a large quantity of this 1 million is basically the unarmed mall security guard? I'm sure there has been a large privatization of what might be legitimately called "domestic law enforcement". But I'm suspect it is not nearly as extensive as these numbers are trying to suggest. I mean, for one thing they felt the need to use the expression "some estimates". And the sad part is that the article raises some very legitimate questions about the practice of hiring private firms for actual policing activities. But one finds themselves swimming through a long list of un-comparable data and vague statistics of poorly defined groups.

[DemReadingDU]

2. Scahill wrote a book about Blackwater

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
http://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Rise-Worlds-Powerful-Mercenary/dp/1560259795


from article on Scahill's blog
US Cities Increasing Use of Armed Mercenaries to Replace Police

This privatization trend is hardly new, but it is accelerating.
.
.
Regardless of the specific company, this trend toward hiring private security companies is an ominous development.

more...
http://rebelreports.com/post/99161105/updated-us-cities-increasing-use-of-armed-mercenaries

I wonder who is going to keep down civil unrest when more people lose their jobs, have no place to sleep, and are hungry, in every city and town. National Guard? Private security?

[babylonsister]

3. I don't understand this. If Oakland can afford to hire a private

security firm for megabucks, why can't they afford to hire cops, and help put their residents to work in the process?

[DemReadingDU]

4. City cops most likely are in a union

:eyes: