Read on Twitter
the demilitarization of this nation's police departments needs to be a priority not just of future presidential administrations — especially those claiming to be progressive —, but that of governors, mayors and city councils, and state legislatures across the country. https://twitter.com/LeslieMac/status/1265469960316424193
there is absolutely no reason for police departments to be armed to the teeth, especially when they regularly receive such little oversight and accountability for their actions.
the demilitarization of the police and overhaul of the policing + criminal justice system was a huge reason why i supported @juliancastro. he said the names of unarmed black people murdered by state sanctioned violence, by the police. he made sure they stayed centered. always.
i appreciate julián for that and i hope that officials look to his plan, and look to the activists and organizers who have been fighting for police reform. because this doesn't begin to end until these systems are dismantled and people are held accountable for their actions.
"American policing has become unnecessarily and dangerously militarized, in large part through federal programs that have armed state and local law enforcement agencies with the weapons and tactics of war, with almost no public discussion or oversight." https://www.aclu.org/report/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-police
"The practice of donating unused military equipment to local governments began in 1997, when language creating a program for it was included in an otherwise unremarkable Defense Department budget authorization." https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/do-not-resist-and-the-crisis-of-police-militarization
"Local governments have received approximately $34B in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to buy their own military equipment from private suppliers. That brings the total to $39B —more than the entire defense budget of Germany." https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/do-not-resist-and-the-crisis-of-police-militarization
(friendly reminder that the department of homeland security should be abolished)
"During the Obama administration, police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft." https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html
"In Florida in 2010, officers in SWAT gear and with guns drawn carried out raids on barbershops that mostly led only to charges of “barbering without a license.” https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html
(paging @senatorshoshana)
"For [20+] years, the Pentagon program that distributes surplus weapons to police departments nationwide received little attention or scrutiny. Officials closely guarded the details.
Then, events in Ferguson propelled the program into the public eye." https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/03/the-pentagon-finally-details-its-weapons-for-cops-giveaway
Then, events in Ferguson propelled the program into the public eye." https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/03/the-pentagon-finally-details-its-weapons-for-cops-giveaway
"As the police have militarized, focus has shifted from one who keeps the peace to one who enforces the law — an important difference." (With a lesson on civil asset forfeiture as well, an incentive in the militarization of the police.) https://fee.org/articles/the-militarization-of-americas-police-a-brief-history/
