Police, Militarization, and Citizens

Over the last week or so, I have witnessed from my friends and contacts on Facebook and news on the television, voice concerns over police brutality, the so-called police state, and the responsibilities of citizens in America. The following is an opinion piece of my views, thoughts and feelings about all of this.

Law enforcement today is a thankless job. For some reason society has become disenchanted with the men and women behind the badge. I am not sure why this has come about, it may be a number of causes. It may be television and the media with the way police are portrayed in the news and that every talking head no longer reports the facts, but has to opine about the situation. It is shows like 'Cops" which displayed people breaking the law and being belligerent during their interaction with authorities, because it is boring just watching people cooperate, so they edited that out and showed more "exciting" arrests.
Also since policing has become a thankless job, I believe many great qualified people with the right temperament are not entering into service. Who wants to put their life on the line in today's world. Instead we are getting people that have illusions of who-knows-what and not being throughly vetted (background checks, psychological, training, performance reviews, etc...), becoming law enforcement agents, and then gunning down, use of force, and not earning the respect behind the badge.
Many are referring back to the good old days of 'Barney Fife", and why aren't today's police departments (PDs) like that anymore? Just look at the world around you, we can not even pass decent gun control legislation, and that we as private citizens want to stock pile weapons in our homes, along with loads of ammunition. Poor Officer Fife does not stand a chance against that type of unchecked citizenry. Which leads into the next part of this...

Many are paranoid that the PDs of today are becoming too militarized and the good old U S of A is becoming a police state. But is it any different from the times of Kent State, the Race Riots of the South, or the Watts Riots in our history? Not really, we just have short memories and as we are removed by time from these incidents we become numb to what happened.
The 1033 (formerly 1208) programs are providing equipment from the invasions of other countries, to local Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). Every one thinks this is a looting of the armories of the military, but a quick search will tell you that it is much more regulated then that. Before anyone is handed a new vehicle for SWAT use, the LEAs must go through the proper training to use the equipment. And the 1033 and Homeland Security programs give monies to maintain the equipment, easing local budgets. BTW, you have to remember that the 1033 program was created in the early 1990s as the first invasion of Iraq ended and is not a new program.
All this equipment is not used for "evil" by the departments, anyone remember Superstorm Sandy, these tactical vehicles were used to rescue people stranded during that emergency. I don't remember people bitching about it then. Everyone got nervous when Boston was shut down and a man hunt was conducted, people complained of marshal law, but I personally liked that the authorities conducted what they had to, to keep everyone safe as possible. Yes it was an inconvenience, but it was necessary.

The citizens of the US have all become little street lawyers and think they know their rights and think that their rights are given no matter what. Because of this they think they are empowered to question any and every thing. That as soon as they are approached by authorities, their rights kick in automatically, and they have no need what so ever to cooperate in any manner because it says so in the constitution. This leads to a lot unsavory confrontation on many levels.
I have been stopped on a number of occasions, even retained until things got sorted out. Never panicked that my rights were being violated or infringed, knowing with confidence that it will get corrected in the end.
I am not sure what it is like to be a person of color or a minority and be profiled, born with the white privilege (I didn't ask for it). I still see the underlying prejudice that exists in society, even when everyone talks a strong game of tolerance, we are still not a very tolerant country. Racism, sexism, agism, and classism are very much the norm. Not sure what drives this, our beliefs (religious and political), our upbringing, our experiences, whatever...some how we need to break it and get over it. Probably won't happen in my life time, but one can hope.