The ongoing clashes between residents of Ferguson, MO and heavily armed police forces - which are equipped with M16 rifles and armored vehicles - have drawn attention to the increasing militarization of police in the United States. Here are the 'alternative' cases for and against outfitting local law enforcement with military-grade weapons...
PROS
- Same tactics used successfully in Afghanistan, Iraq
- Modern law enforcement simply cannot do their job properly by relying on handguns, tasers, and tear gas alone
- A real shot in arm for nation’s ailing weapons industry
- Look on driver’s face when tank pulls up beside Mini Cooper always fun
- Local photojournalists now able to capture fog of war at home
- Nice surprise treat for veterans to see weapons they used in war pop up on their hometown streets
- Never a bad idea to put a more powerful gun in someone’s hand
- Actually going to seem pretty quaint when compared with police armaments 20 years from now
CONS
- Most police officers have proven fully capable of violently subduing protesters without any military-grade weapons
- It actually very hard to recite Miranda rights while holding 40-pound grenade launcher
- There no longer any middle ground between community watch and military
- Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles only get 5 miles per gallon
- Jesus, just look at this shit
- Military-style helmets limit peripheral vision while firing indiscriminately into crowd
- Could potentially be abused if put in lesser hands than America’s historically honest and virtuous police departments
- Takes away that personal touch of beating a suspect to death with bare hands
Fact or Fiction...
