By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
A strong call to disarm on the eve of U.S. Senate hearings.
As the U.S. Senate prepares to hold a hearing Tuesday on the militarization of local police—not just in Ferguson, Missouri, but across America—a short new video from Brave New Films underscores that the problem of trigger-happy, armed-for-warfare cops is more widespread and disturbing than we think.
“Why in the world do police in Ferguson, Missouri, look like this? Why are they driving a $300,000 armored vehicle through the suburbs,” the video asks, in opening scenes taken from television news reports, before explaining that the transformation of departments into combat-ready forces, especially in rural America, is hardly new.
“It’s not just Ferguson. Police are being militarized all through the country,” the video said, showing weaponry that have been sent to overseas war zone and then brought back to Main Street. “Does Keene, New Hampshire, population 23,000, also need that ballistic engineered armored response counterattack truck? How about Cullman County, Alabama, population 14,000; Do they need a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle? Does Montgomery County, Texas sheriff’s department need a $300,000 drone? Why do the Fargo, North Dakota police look more like soldiers fighting overseas?
“How did local police all over America become hostile military forces?” the video continued, before providing the answer. “Because the federal government has been spending billions of dollars making them that way.”
The police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson and ensuing protests have prompted Missouri's Democratic Senator, Claire McCaskill, to schedule a hearing on police militarization on Tuesday morning. McCaskill chairs a Homeland Security Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight. The hearing will “examine federal programs that enable local police departments to acquire military equipment, such as the Defense Department’s 1033 program for surplus property and grants made through the Department of Homeland Security,” her Senate website said. “She plans to gather stakeholders in order to hear several perspectives, including those of local law enforcement.”
Since Ferguson, lobbyists and police and military contractors have been making a full-court press to defend their arsenals. Last week, Chuck Canterbury, the national president of the …read more
Source: ALTERNET
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