Police militarization is an issue of training, not weapons

John Sutija / Contributing Writer

opinion@fiusm.com


 

The giving of military grade equipment to local police departments is a subject that has gained a lot of attention in the news, especially after the Ferguson, Mo. demonstrations.  But the practice isn’t new. The Law Enforcement Supply Office Program has been in effect since the late 90s and is designed to give second life to equipment that would otherwise be destroyed – which to the government means spending money to make weapons, spending more to destroy them, only to have to spend money to make more when the need arises. LESO, for the government, is just good business sense. So if you ever wondered how FIU got a minesweeper armored vehicle and 50 assault rifles, that’s why.

As the Ferguson and Baltimore demonstrations have shown, the police use this program extensively and are more than willing to gear up to play soldier. But, like children, these officers are only playing. Real soldiers have extensive training in the use of these weapons, whereas the officer who fills out check boxes at the front desk can receive a grenade launcher – the Sweetwater Police Department has one of those.

But the solution isn’t cancelling the program or taking away the guns – as a start, LESO could help itself out by offering more than Jeeps. AKs, body armor and aid kits.

Perhaps the solution is simply to keep the guns in the hands of soldiers. Military training and police training are highly different, as can be seen in scenes from Ferguson: cops walking around with guns raised and their eyes down the sights. This may be the way to play Call of Duty, but trained soldiers keep their guns pointed downward until they need to be raised. The first rule of firearm safety is never point it at anyone, keep it either up or down. Soldiers are well disciplined this way, and there are repercussions when they screw up. Their mistakes are dealt with in a different, stricter military court system. If officers want to see themselves as above the norm, perhaps we should let them answer to different laws.

I’m not saying returning GIs should be fast tracked into the police force, quite the opposite really. While ten percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are still unemployed, we don’t need to let any more Chris Kyles onto the streets. Extensive psychological evaluations would be needed for returning soldiers. But those fresh faced privates who’ve gotten through training, but maybe they’d rather protect and serve than search and destroy, and we could let them walk to that beat.

In short, the problem isn’t that America’s Police have militarized, but that it hasn’t militarized in the right ways. If actions are taken to see to it that the police are properly trained, maintained and supervised – in a way other than what we’re currently doing – then there is no reason why they can’t have their cake.


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About the Author

Sam Smith
The Beacon - Editor-in-Chief

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