Tam questions something that’s always puzzled me too. Personally, I don’t have a problem with the police having anything, as long as I’m allowed to own one too. My problem is more with how they are using their toys, than the fact that they have them.
One thought on “Problems with “Sport Utility” v. “Paramilitary””
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I’m with you, I don’t mind the “man” having an AR15, it’s the 14-ton armored vehicle their using to knock down the doors on homes that bothers me – especially when they so often seem to have thier information WRONG! I’m all for are police having the best technoliogy and equipment, but PLEASE get better with the information…
“The proliferation of SWAT teams, police militarization, and the Drug War have given rise to a dramatic increase in the number of “no-knock” or “quick-knock” raids on suspected drug offenders. Because these raids are often conducted based on tips from notoriously unreliable confidential informants, police sometimes conduct SWAT-style raids on the wrong home, or on the homes of nonviolent, misdemeanor drug users. Such highly-volatile, overly confrontational tactics are bad enough when no one is hurt — it’s difficult to imagine the terror an innocent suspect or family faces when a SWAT team mistakenly breaks down their door in the middle of the night.
But even more disturbing are the number of times such “wrong door” raids unnecessarily lead to the injury or death of suspects, bystanders, and police officers. Defenders of SWAT teams and paramilitary tactics say such incidents are isolated and rare. The map below aims to refute that notion.”
~CATO Institute
Dann in Ohio