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Common Dreams: Will Police 'War Zone' Continue Despite More Police Cameras?
Will Police 'War Zone' Continue Despite More Police Cameras?
December 01, 2014
?itok=lUfuM9NF
In the wake of the August 9 police killing of Michael Brown and ongoing outrage and protests over the failure to indict St. Louis police officer Darren Wilson, President Obama on Monday announced a series of initiatives aimed at stemming police violence and militarization, including the increased use of police body cameras and the formation of a committee to review federal military equipment transfer programs.
During a morning Cabinet meeting, Obama and his staff discussed the newly released internal review (pdf) of federal programs that support the transfer of military supplies from the Department of Defense to local law enforcement agencies, which rights groups say have facilitated the rapid militarization of local police departments.
"The police are bound to protect and serve the communities in which they operate," Kara Dansky, senior counsel for the ACLU, told Common Dreams. "And when the police behave and look like soldiers, it creates culture of militarization, of treating people in communities more like enemies. Our neighborhoods aren't war zones."
While the president on Monday failed to endorse any concrete changes to the military equipment transfer program, Dansky says she is "hopeful" that the White House task force will follow the ACLU's recommendations when delivering their proposed revisions in 120 days. The rights group has been calling for the president to implement a moratorium on the military equipment transfer program, known as the 1033 program, while the administration conducts its review—thus far to no avail.
However, despite these warnings, reforming the transfer program may prove to be politically difficult....
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/01/will-police-war-zone-continue-despite-more-police-cameras
December 01, 2014
?itok=lUfuM9NF
In the wake of the August 9 police killing of Michael Brown and ongoing outrage and protests over the failure to indict St. Louis police officer Darren Wilson, President Obama on Monday announced a series of initiatives aimed at stemming police violence and militarization, including the increased use of police body cameras and the formation of a committee to review federal military equipment transfer programs.
During a morning Cabinet meeting, Obama and his staff discussed the newly released internal review (pdf) of federal programs that support the transfer of military supplies from the Department of Defense to local law enforcement agencies, which rights groups say have facilitated the rapid militarization of local police departments.
"The police are bound to protect and serve the communities in which they operate," Kara Dansky, senior counsel for the ACLU, told Common Dreams. "And when the police behave and look like soldiers, it creates culture of militarization, of treating people in communities more like enemies. Our neighborhoods aren't war zones."
While the president on Monday failed to endorse any concrete changes to the military equipment transfer program, Dansky says she is "hopeful" that the White House task force will follow the ACLU's recommendations when delivering their proposed revisions in 120 days. The rights group has been calling for the president to implement a moratorium on the military equipment transfer program, known as the 1033 program, while the administration conducts its review—thus far to no avail.
However, despite these warnings, reforming the transfer program may prove to be politically difficult....
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/01/will-police-war-zone-continue-despite-more-police-cameras