After A Temporary Show Of Enthusiasm, Government Lapses Back Into Not Caring About The Militarization Of The Nation's Police

from the faint-signs-of-life dept

Wed, Nov 26th 2014 10:45am — Tim Cushing

It's an idea that almost makes sense, provided you don't examine it too closely. America's neverending series of intervention actions and pseudo-wars has created a wealth of military surplus -- some outdated, some merely more than what was needed. Rather than simply scrap the merchandise or offload it at cut-rate prices to other countries' militaries (and face the not-unheard-of possibility that those same weapons/vehicles might be used against us), the US government decided to distribute it to those fighting the war (on drugs, mostly) at home: law enforcement agencies.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, it quickly became a way to turn police departments into low-rent military operations. Law enforcement officials sold fear and bought assault rifles, tear gas, grenade launchers and armored vehicles. They painted vivid pictures of well-armed drug cabals and terrorists, both domestic and otherwise, steadily encroaching on the everyday lives of the public, outmanning and outgunning the servers and protectors.

It worked. The Department of Homeland Security was so flattered by the parroting of its terrorist/domestic extremist talking points that it handed out generous grants and ignored incongruities, like a town of 23,000 requesting an armored BearCat because its annual Pumpkinfest might be a terrorist target.

Then the Ferguson protests began after Michael Brown's shooting in August, and the media was suddenly awash in images of camouflage-clad cops riding armored vehicles while pointing weapons at protesters, looking for all the world like martial law had been declared and the military had arrived to quell dissent and maintain control.

This prompted a discussion that actually reached the halls of Congress. For a brief moment, it looked like there might be a unified movement to overhaul the mostly-uncontrolled military equipment re-gifting program. But now that the indictment has been denied and the city of Ferguson is looted and burning, those concerns appear to have been forgotten.

Lawmakers vowed changes to the Pentagon programs that deliver military-grade equipment to local police after images of cops climbing out of armored vehicles with military-grade weapons filtered out of Ferguson, Missouri, in August.

But months later, the chaotic 1033 program — which sends surplus military gear built for combat to local police forces with little oversight — hasn’t changed at all.

The 113th Congress will end without substantive changes to the program. The White House hasn’t announced the results of its policy review. The flow of billions in technology designed for the battlefield to local police forces will go on unabated.

While some legislators got caught up in the moment, others have been fighting this battle for much longer. Rep. Hank Johnson has been pushing for an overhaul since late last year, when he had the dubious "privilege" of walking behind some repurposed military equipment during a small town Christmas parade. This not being an issue du jour for Johnson has helped his credibility, but has had little real impact. Even those whose legislation pursuits aren't a product of the prevailing winds still find the prevailing winds to be a frustration.

“We were ready to introduce that legislation just before we left for the August break, but my staff and I decided to wait until we returned into session before we actually filed it. So during that time, of course, Ferguson happened,” Johnson told BuzzFeed News. “When Ferguson happened it was a visual display of what my legislation was attempting to stop, and that was the free-flow of military-grade weaponry onto the streets of America. … Then we were able to get some bipartisan interest in this bill.”

From that point, there was a brief period of intense bipartisan momentum to investigate and change the program — before that momentum hit a wall.

Others -- including President Obama -- promised to look into the program. Obama ordered the first top-level review of the Pentagon's 1033 program in over 20 years, but weeks later, there's been nothing reported.

Police organizations have ramped up their support of the program, throwing fear into politicians who know that coming across as anti-police doesn't gain them much support from the demographic that actually votes in large numbers. A mid-term election has also added to the problem, with new membership changing priorities and old supporters finding themselves looking for day jobs.

The government returns to stasis. Police militarization continues to remain on the public's radar, something clearly not reflected by their representatives. And when the representatives do show some awareness of the warlike agencies prowling the nation's cities under the guise of law enforcement, what will they see? They'll see images of Officer Wilson standing over the body of the unarmed man he shot replaced by images of used car lots on fire and looters grabbing essentials like hair care products and Funyuns from local businesses. In short, they'll see all the justification they'll ever need to see.

2,200 National Guard troops are on their way to Ferguson and any appearance of military weapons and vehicles now appears completely justified, even if police officers have handled riots for years without these Pentagon-supplied luxuries. By the time life returns to normal, the difference between "armed occupying force" and "peace officers" will have shrunk even further.

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Filed Under: 1033, congress, dhs, homeland security, militarization, police, police brutality, police militarization

25 Comments

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Coyne Tibbets (profile), 26 Nov 2014 @ 11:23am

It was fake enthusiasm
The only reason for the "enthusiasm" was a temporary ruckus in the press. Now that the ruckus has died down a bit: Why would we be surprised to find the enthusiasm was faked?

Of course it would have to be faked: If lawmakers kept showing real enthusiasm, all those law enforcement types would show up waving terrorist attack and dead kiddie flags and make a loud ruckus. That will scare the populace and lead to an even louder ruckus.

Must not take away law enforcement toys if we will have to brave terrorist attack/dead kiddie flags.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 11:32am

You'd think that the "Small Government" Republicans would care about this, and then do something about it since they own Congress.

Unfortunately, the "Small Government" Republicans are also "Pro-Military Industrial Complex" Republicans, and the "Small Government" thing is just a sham anyway, and only used as cover to cut taxes for the rich.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 12:08pm

Re:
Conservative here.

The Republican Lie of "Small Government" is just that. The republicans expand the government every bit as much as the Democrats do, they just expand it in different ways.

There are Sheeple all around dumb enough to believe their party lies.
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drjimmy (profile), 26 Nov 2014 @ 12:09pm

The fascists won WW2, just not the German fascists. America had become exactly what it fought to destroy in WW2.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 12:11pm

Re:
don't be stupid... we have not exactly become what we fought. We have yet to mass load a specific ethic group up for mass murder. With that said... I can agree we are at least heading in that direction way to fast and are already way to close for my comfort.
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David, 26 Nov 2014 @ 12:15pm

Re: Re:
Well, dark-skinned muslims might as well have to wear the red half-moon on their lapel, but nowadays things like no-fly lists are handled by computer.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 12:20pm

Re: Re:
The concentration camps is our over bloated prison system. I dare you to point out what specifically separates our nation from Nazi Germany.
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drjimmy (profile), 26 Nov 2014 @ 1:03pm

Re: Re:
The German leadership didn't exclusively pick one specific ethnic group for mass murder, there were many that were selected. America doesn't use ethnicity per se as selection criteria, it's more about skin color.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 1:46pm

Re: Re: Re:
Smaller ovens and fewer gas chambers?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 1:50pm

Re: Re: Re:
Welp, lets start with Geography... a pond Separates us... okay, enough with the funny business, but there are a lot of things.

We still have our guns... though they are under assault.
We still have freedom of press... though many are sold out to government and corporate interests, and which is also under assault.
We still have a court system that can bail us out of BS from the government... that that is only if you find fully informed jurors, and of course... is under assault as well.

With Bush and the NSA/DHS/Patriot Act which is loved by Obama while he is in power does put us on track for becoming another "Hitler's Germany", but we are not there yet. People making a bunch of stupid claims only alienates people and ideas causing further issues and division rather than helping to solve them!

And we have yet to start shipping massive loads of people off to death just because they are white, black, or brown.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 1:57pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
This discussion always pops up at techdirt.

------------

AC: WE'RE THE SAME AS HITLER'S GERMANY!!! HOW ARE WE ANY DIFFERENT?!

Reply: Naw dog, we're not the same for x and y reasons and you really shouldn't go about claiming otherwise because you sound like a lunatic and you're hurting the cause. Get a sense of proportion and take a xanax for christ's sake.

------------

This discussion happens over and over.
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avideogameplayer, 26 Nov 2014 @ 2:22pm

Re: Re:
Why don't you ask all the blacks who are unjustly killed by white police?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 4:27pm

Re: Re: Re:
We're all probably wearing a dozen digital patches right now. Give it a year, we'll see police all wearing google glass... and they'll see us with a bunch of icons circling above our heads: everything from credit score to political affiliations to employer. Everything they need to evaluate "easy targets" who can't afford to defend their rights.

Of course they still won't be wearing body cameras, since visual recording devices will still be considered "overly expensive untested tech" that evolves too fast to maintain.
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drjimmy (profile), 26 Nov 2014 @ 4:57pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Right. Obama did it. LOL.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 9:37pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
What's the current attitude regarding Godwin's Law among the cool kids? Since a lot of TD posts involve mass surveillance and police militarization, maybe a certain number of "Hyperbolic Godwinisms" should be given an uncontested pass. Two foul Hitlers, ok. Third foul Hitler? You're called out.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Nov 2014 @ 2:18am

So they either turn the US into a police state
or let the majority of a minority burn down entire cities.
At least its a great entertraiment, some site actually claimed the riots are great for the economy...
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Nov 2014 @ 5:56am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Godwin's law is stupid bullshit that shuts down the discussion when invoked in response to a valid point. The sooner we move past that petulant horseshit the better.

You can make valid Nazi comparison's or warnings all day long, and it's all good. But when you start equating two things which are not equal (in this case America and Nazi Germany) and declaring with certainty that they are, you're going to get called on it because your argument now contains a false equivalency fallacy. Nazi's have nothing to do with it at that point.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Nov 2014 @ 9:22am

How's that Plowshare program workin' fer ya?
Didn't we used to beat swords into plowshares?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Nov 2014 @ 6:23pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yep, but "validity" is a weird thing. "People who prefer Kit Kats to Twix are literally Nazis" is nonsense. "The military in Country X has been committing genocide... they're nothing short of Nazis" is absolutely justifiable.

When is a comment false equivalency, and when is it slippery slope, hyperbole, or satire?

Not that I'm making an argument for or against any particular "rule of interpretation": it's a comment section, and varying kinds of misinterpretation and random disagreements are expected and don't really matter. I'm just blathering away, bored on Thanksgiving night.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Nov 2014 @ 7:02pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I see your point. So let's forget about Nazis and anything Godwin has to say about them and focus on determining whether something is valid or not regardless of the subject matter.

Validity being the core issue, let's keep searching for truth.

I'm sure it's in there somewhere.
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Pragmatic, 1 Dec 2014 @ 5:43am

Re: Re:
Moderate conservative here. Amen to both of you.

I'm not opposed to social programs that help the poor, etc., and I've always believed in goverment by the people for the people.

Now I'm told that I must be a liberal socialist for believing just that.
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Pragmatic, 1 Dec 2014 @ 5:45am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Well, they're starting to ban coverage of executions, keeping the details secret even from the courts. Since they're not really bothered as to whether the accused is actually guilty of the crime or whether or not he was even fully culpable, I guess we can say that your argument doesn't really hold up.
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Pragmatic, 1 Dec 2014 @ 5:47am

Re: How's that Plowshare program workin' fer ya?
Yeah, then the MIC got hold of the program and beat swords into BearCats.
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Tony (profile), 1 Dec 2014 @ 8:42am

Might be one
As far as I can tell, Rand Paul seems to still be on this subject. It may not be much but at least that's one.
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8086, 19 Mar 2015 @ 5:26pm

Long slow decline. . .
Starting with the war on drug's our government, for the first time, started to define a segment of the population as an enemy, not citizens. And that view can result in viewing them as undeserving of the right granted to all citizens.

Now with the war on terror, which is promoted using terror, they now view everyone as something other then citizens, be it suspects, consumers, or mindless sheep.

If we can't reassert our control as citizens and demand accountability from our government, we will continue this long slow decline!
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