Wednesday, July 6, 2011

To Protect and Serve

Greetings good citizen,

I was somewhat, er, ‘shocked’ to read in the local rag this morning that the ‘Reverse mortgage’ is going the way of the Dodo.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I see this development as one more nail in the coffin of an unworkable capitalist social contract.

Increasingly the message is “If you don’t like it, tough shit!” Which brings us to today’s mystery question

Why Do the Police Have Tanks?
The Strange and Dangerous Militarization of the US Police Force

[snip] Some 40,000 of these raids take place every year, and are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they’re sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers. And as demonstrated by the case of Aiyana Mo'nay Stanley-Jones, these raids have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries.

How did we allow our law enforcement apparatus to descend into militaristic chaos? Traditionally, the role of civilian police has been to maintain the peace and safety of the community while upholding the civil liberties of residents in their respective jurisdiction. In stark contrast, the military soldier is an agent of war, trained to kill the enemy.

Clearly, the mission of the police officer is incompatible with that of a soldier, so why is it that local police departments are looking more and more like paramilitary units in a combat zone? The line between military and civilian law enforcement has been drawn for good reason, but following the drug war and more recently, the war on terror, that line is inconspicuously eroding, a trend that appears to be worsening by the decade. [snip, we jump to the last paragraph.]

It's important to remember that police officers are not responsible for instituting these policies. Over the last three decades local police departments supplied with military uniforms, weaponry, vehicles, and training, were told they were fighting a war on drugs, crime and terror. The politicians who instituted these policies are responsible for the militarization creeping into civilian law enforcement. What might the end result be if the distinction between police and military ceases to exist? The answer is a police state -- and certain segments of our society are already living in one.

Okay, I saw a ‘red flag’ when local cops in sleepy jurisdictions suddenly started sporting bullet-proof vests as part of their ‘safety equipment’.

These are places where a cop could go their entire career and NEVER fire their weapon (although they may have had to draw it a few times. Shit happens, ya know?)

But as the article points out, it didn’t stop at BPV’s. Now it isn’t uncommon to find an automatic weapon in the trunk of a local police cruiser…(but that’s just in case the officer encounters Afghan commandos invading their sleepy jurisdiction!)

What’s the ‘real’ issue here good citizen?

Why do cops have tanks?

Let’s back up a step and ask a more telling question; who is your taxpayer supported police force REALLY there to ‘protect and serve’?

Guess what, if you call in a suspected prowler the same time the local bank has an alarm, guess where the cops are dispatched to first? (Provided you don’t call in the report from the Mayor’s house!)

It’s not your house!

This goes back to the current prevailing legal interpretation of the Constitution that the founders placed ‘property rights’ ahead of EVERYTHING else.

So why DO cops have tanks? Take a gander at the accompanying video if you need proof that ‘the cops’ work for the politicians!

Quartzsite, AZ – The Mayor is challenged under a recall election beginning next month. Accusations have been made. The city council is persecuting the Mayor for giving the people a voice. The Chief of Police is also involved in the scandal.

Jennifer Jones is given the floor at a city council meeting open to the public. While she is speaking the council realizes she’s about to air their dirty laundry and quickly beckons their henchman to cart her off.

The Mayor steps in and says Jones has been recognized to speak and has not violated the council’s rules, but the council ignores him and has the woman removed even as the Mayor continues to contest. The police officers ignore the Mayor of the city and remove the woman. It’s obvious who those cops work for, and it’s not the people.

It is a little unfair to point to Quartzsite, AZ as the next recipient of an armored assualt vehicle but you an bet every officer is required to wear bullet-proof upper body protection!

If the madness continues long enough, sleepy places like the People’s Republic of Arizona (a bright RED state) will have enough military hardware for political operatives to force their will upon the governed!

We have long ago accepted that we are no longer ‘represented’ by those we elect to represent us…that is a charade!

Look at what came of the ‘will of the people’ in the last presidential election, a new leader who has proven so ineffective that literally nothing has changed from the last administration…and he is running for re-election ‘unopposed’…how fucking sad is that!

I don’t know what its going to take to light the powder keg they’re building underneath us, I just know there’s going to be on hell of a big explosion when they do touch it off!

And who will be the most ‘surprised’ by the pent up anger of 'the sleeping giant?'

The people cowering in their tanks (wondering how long they can cross their legs because they know they will die the moment they step outside of the vehicle!)

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

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