The Militarization of the Police

Militarization of the Police

            In this post I will be addressing the law enforcement agencies in the nation and how their power has grown as well since the 9/11/01 attacks. I can remember as a little kid going to the police station in my hometown of Greenville, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. I remember the friendly looking officers and the small jail cells. That was 10 years ago; now if you were to visit the same police station you would see a great difference.

            The police stations in and around Pittsburgh, PA have gone under a complete overhaul from local law enforcement to full a militarized police force. In preparation for the G20 summit to be held in Pittsburgh in September 2009, the state of Pennsylvania gave out thousands of dollars to supply local law enforcement agencies with sound ray weapons, tear gas, full riot gear, hummers, 12-gage riot control shotguns, and M4 and M16 assault rifles.(Pittsbirgh Post Gazzete, 2009) The local police were more equipped than the standard infantrymen of the Army. The total number of officers in attendance was 4000 to counter the estimated 4500 protesters.

            Joining the local law enforcement were members of the Pennsylvania National Guard which is a blatant Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. This act clearly states that “No military personnel shall take up the role of law enforcement within the United States boarders.” (Washington Post, 2008) Since the 2009 G20 protest in Pittsburgh, the government has disbanded the Posse Comitatus Act. Now the Pentagon plans to have 20,000 military personnel to take up policing duties by 2011. (Washington Post, 2008)

            The last time in history a civilization allowed the military to become part of law enforcement were countries like Germany 1939-1945, China 1963-1978, and North Korea 1986-present day. As you can see the by example that the other countries who have had a militarized their police force have stripped their citizens of their freedoms. People say that history has a habit of repeating itself, and it seems it may in our country.

It's all to Keep You Safe

It’s all to Keep You Safe

            After the attacks of September 11th, the Department of Homeland Security decided to expand the protection of the people. It was not just the airports and Transportation Security Administration’s responsibility to prevent terrorism. With a terror driven media new, scenarios of possible terrorist attacks started to pop up. To prevent these possible attacks, the DHS decided to move security to the streets.

            By 2003, local law enforcement agencies in the State of New York, California, Texas, and other majorly populated areas installed crime prevention cameras.(McClure, 2005) What this program was designed to do is to spot potential criminals and send in enforcement before the crime happened. This caused a big controversy with the general public. People argued the police agencies by saying “how can you charge someone with a crime they have not committed?” In the constitution, it clearly states that a person is innocent until proven guilty. So how is it legally possible to arrest someone for a crime they have not done? If it is illegal to think of an illegal action, we all should be in jail.

             Another problem brought up with the cameras is the right to privacy. The cameras can rotate to move and look into some people’s homes. The cameras can be accesses by any police officer or DHS agent to watch the public. Now most people at the time were willing to sacrifice their right to privacy to make sure they were safe. This is just another example of how to rise of paranoia in the nation lead to the fall of people’s individual rights.

The Rise of Paranoia

The Rise of Paranoia

            As I stated in my last post, a strong fear of another attack happening took a firm grip over the nation. I can remember hearing adults talking about what their evacuation plans would be and where they would go if another attack were to happen. People were becoming so paranoid worrying that another attack would happen that they even bought gas mask. Now people on the west coast might not have experienced this as much, but living in Pennsylvania at the time the attacks happened, people were very much afraid.

            Not many people knew what would happen in the few months after the attacks. Some people speculated that there would be another hijacking, or chemical attack, or even a rouge terrorist group would obtain a nuclear bomb and detonate it on U.S soil. This may have seemed extreme to most people, but it might as well have been written truth for the media. As you surfed through the news stations back in the early months of post 9/11, you would see nothing but bad things being reported.

            I can remember quite vividly switching from news station to news station and seeing nothing but despair. The FOX news network particularly was the station that ran with the crazy ideas the most. They might as well have been saying the apocalypse was upon us. Normally people would ignore the outrageous news stories, but due to that state of fear over the nation, people accepted what the news was saying without question.

            With all of the news station reporting despair and the nation’s ideas of an attack running wild, people looked to the government to keep them safe.  The nation was willing to do anything to feel that they were safe again. To calm our overly imaginative nerves, the government formed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The primary goal of the DHS is to prevent the U.S and its territories from terrorist attack and respond to natural disasters.(dhs.gov, 2008) That was their primary goal, but over the next few years the DHS would expand their “responsibilities”.   

The Good Old Pre 9/11 Days

The Good Old Pre 9/11 Days

            I am sure that most of us can remember what the world was like ten years ago. Boy bands were the music sensation of the nation, one of the closest elections ever had just ended, and cells phones were a fast growing new technology. Those were the good old days. When the biggest worries of the nation were who was going to win the World Series or which car they should buy. Within one year later, all of that changed for the worse.

            America had experienced the worst attack on the nation since Pearl Harbor and with that came a sense of fear that overtook the nation. Then government stepped in and offered the nation a sense of security. Little did anyone know what they would pay to feel that they were safe. Over the next nine years untill present day, the Department Of Homeland Security grew in power and has the nation in a tight grip of monitoring. To truly see how much the DHS has grown over the past few years, we have to look to the past.

            Before the attacks on 9/11, the government offices responsible for keeping the nation safe were the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Due to an act signed by President Clinton, the two agencies were not allowed to share information. This was a fatal flaw in the nation’s security to prevent attacks from happening. To prevent this from happening again the Department of Homeland Security was formed. That was a big change in security the public noticed, but where the public noticed the upgraded security the most were in the most common places.

            Before the 9/11 attacks, airport security was taken care of by the airline companies. The check in process was relatively simple and people could be on their way. Another place where people saw increased security was on the streets right out of their front door. In major cities like New York, citizens saw armed national guardsmen equipped with M-16 assault rifles. Police monitored cameras mounted on streetlights had a constant eye on citizens. Little did anyone know that the rise in security or rise of paranoia would only get worse.