U.S. Exceptionalism in Being a Police/Prison State

[Indy]

[Philly]

In b4 the non. Great thread. The militarization of our police force has been a growing problem and one that no one wants to address because it's politically preferable to let this and our prison epidemic fester than be "soft on crime". Despicable.

[eynon81]

prison nation is the twisted off-spring of "progressivism" both left and right wing.

[Indy]

Could you elaborate? In layman's terms please--it's Monday.

[eynon81]

btw....the militarization is in no small part due to the Federal government. They provide much of the funding, equipment and incentive for local cops to militarize*.


*although in many cases it's probably not a hard sell.

[Indy]

[Professor]

I live in one such "podunk". Little bitty micro-burb of New Orleans. In 2012, we had 1 murder, 1 rape, 3 robberies, 9 assaults, 27 burglaries, 86 thefts, 6 auto thefts, and 2 arsons. Yet, our lovely police force found it necessary to buy a surplus 6x6 armored personnel carrier.

However, the fallout from this was that the police chief resigned and we have a new guy in office now - one who has promised to sell the APC and use the money to buy 2 golf carts and 4 bikes and send officers on patrol in these (makes the officers much more accessible for citizens than if they were in a car, which they still have 6 of).

[eynon81]

[eynon81]

[Professor]