Militarizing the Police

Recent confrontations between members of the Occupy Movement and municipal police have highlighted the sophistication of contemporary law enforcement weaponry. This recent Daily Beast article provides a horrifying dose of context. Since 2001, the federal government has poured billions of dollars into local police departments, furnishing them with military-grade arsenals justified by "the least likely terrorist scenarios." Not only does this program leave departments armed to the teeth, but also, apparently, encourages the worst kinds of militaristic fantasizing:


"A grainy YouTube video from one of Clark’s recent competitions shows just how far the police transformation has come, displaying officers in battle fatigues, helmets, and multi-pocketed vests storming a hostile scene. One with a pistol strapped to his hip swings a battering ram into a door. A colleague lobs a flash-bang grenade into a field. Another officer, holding a pistol and wearing a rifle strapped to his back, peeks cautiously inside a bus. The images unfold to the pulsing, ominous soundtrack of a popular videogame, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Though resembling soldiers in a far-flung war zone, the stars of this video are Massachusetts State Police troopers."