Concern over US police tactics
I found this quite interesing.The recent killing of an unarmed Virginia doctor has raised concerns about what some say is an explosion in the use of military-style police Swat teams in the United States.
Armed with assault rifles, stun grenades - even armoured personnel carriers - units once used only in highly volatile situations are increasingly being deployed on more routine police missions.
Dr Salvatore Culosi Jr had come out of his townhouse to meet an undercover policeman when he was shot through the chest by a Special Weapons and Tactics force.
It was about 2135 on a chilly January evening. The 37-year-old optometrist was unarmed, he had no history of violence and displayed no threatening behaviour.
Apparenlty in the 1980s there were about 3,000 Swat team deployments annually across the US
but now there are at least 40,000 per year.
Mr Kraska, an expert on police militarisation from Eastern Kentucky University
He also said in his statement thatthere has been an explosion of units in smaller towns and cities, where training and operational standards may not be as high as large cities - a growth he attributes to "the hysteria" of the country's war on drugs.
"I get several calls a month from people asking about local incidents - wrong address raids, excessive use of force, wrongful shootings - this stuff is happening all the time," he adds.
sourceThe problem is that when you talk about the war on this and the war on that,
And police officers see themselves as soldiers, then the civilian becomes the enemy.
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Originally Posted by Rhah
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