For about twenty years now local police forces have taken advantage of a military transfer programs authorized by Congress. Basically, the program allows the military to give all sorts of weapons - M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers and more — to local police departments. Since 2009, police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars, MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Armored Vehilles), planes and helicopters.
Police SWAT teams are now deployed tens of thousands of times each year, increasingly for routine jobs. Some, especially in larger cities, have used federal grant money to buy armored cars and other tactical gear.
Can the police no longer do their jobs unless they are armed as well as our military?
No comments:
Post a Comment