why the hell does the police need to wear military uniforms

[no_to_war_economy]

what the fuck .... tell me why the insistent on merging the police state with the military state

is this so we will get use to seeing the army at the Main St sobriety checkpoint in your small town



Police gather outside Provina Mercy Medical Center, where a male patient was holed up with a small handgun inside a room on the fifth floor of the hospital, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006 in Aurora, Ill. Police later said the man was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire inside the hospital. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

[originalpckelly]

1. "Why grandma what big teeth you have..." (nt)

[Warpy]

2. The militarization of the police started under Nixon

as a way to get around Posse Comitatus.

Officer Friendly is no more.

[LynnTheDem]

3. In a word

yes

[Greyhound]

4. To desensitize the sheeple to the new world order. n/t

[treestar]

18. Exactly.

One of the memes that makes me see red: when someone says that they "feel safer" when they see the military in the streets (they must have been in other countries when they saw this).

[Greyhound]

29. I don't know, ever been to Phoenix or LA?

The cops in both those places wear black military style fatigues and webbing now instead of the traditional uniforms.

[baldguy]

5. They want YOU to know who's in charge.

Imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.

[Nozebro]

6. What do you think Democrats will do about this, now that they could? EOM

nt

[seabeyond]

9. we the people have allowed. that slippery slope everyone dismisses

we allowed it step by step so we could feel safer from the bad guys. made all kinds of validations of abuse of power cause they were getting criminals off the street. we allowed

[Nozebro]

13. In other words, Democrats are as much to blame as the GOP, so they won't

do anything to change the situation and will likely only go along with efforts to make this country even more of a police state? That about it?

[seabeyond]

16. not our elected people. the citizens. i think you clearly know

what i am saying but want to firmly put on elected dems. they are the will of the people and there are too many people that wnat this type of protection from our police because they are so afraid they are willing to give up rights and protections thinking it will never touch them. this is what the people across the nation allow. in each community. step by step. over a decade or more

[treestar]

19. Which is why the MSM makes so much of every type of crime

or disaster. They want people to fear it out of proportion of its chances of occurring.

[seabeyond]

7. because it is fun to dress up and see the american people as the enemy

all the power.

[shrdlu]

8. In addition to being a sign of creeping fascism,

militarization gives cops a lot of fun toys.

[leftofthedial]

10. police, military, secret police, death squads . . .

all are just different wings of the internaitonal capitalist oligarchy's extortion enforcement division

let them all wear the same uniform. It makes them easier to spot.

[derby378]

11. Oh, come on...

I have a set of those clothes, myself, and I'm not even in law enforcement. They're comfortable, they move with your body, and they're fairly durable. When I had a nasty fall at the last Race for the Cure, those SWAT trousers kept my knee from getting seriously messed up.

While I'm talking about the trousers, they took a hint from those Old Navy cargo pants that are now all the rage. Pockets everywhere. Very utilitarian.

So they're not the latest Versace or Mossimo fashions. I like them. I like blue jeans, T-shirts, Western shirts, dress slacks, and even the occasional tie, but I like BDUs, too. I gotta be me.

[Pavulon]

12. Carrying gear

he is swat gear. carrying magazines, body armor, etc.

[MethuenProgressive]

14. The photo caption says "why"

I'm sure the police could be better targets for gunmen if they were in bright red teeshirts and without vests and helmets, but why would you want that?

[treestar]

23. No one said that. Just that they should look like cops, not

military.

[Igel]

25. SWAT teams dress like military for the same reasons the

military dresses like military. Urban combat.

[Sydnie]

34. SWAT teams generally wear all black

I haven't ever seen one that dresses in camo wear.

[Jcrowley]

15. And all of these

little local as well as larger state police agencies are getting big time funds courtesy of Homeland Security and getting weaponry as well. Look into it.

Hmmm? Police getting arms from Homeland Security? Sound familiar anyone?

[Clark2008]

17. Do you want the real reason or the reason of some with active

imaginations?

The real reason is because many police WERE military and they're familiar with the versatility of the clothing. In today's society, police work isn't limited to walking up and down the streets and doing door checks - the tough denim of these outfits are more suited for the types of work S.W.A.T. teams do.

These are SWATs, not patrolmen.

[pretzel4gore]

20. thank god for global warming...

nt

[hedgehog]

21. CAn anyone tell me if SWAT teams started out after the Viet Nam War?

I think that's when all the business with helicopter ambulances also started. The Swat teams seee to have the special weapons, but I'm not certain about the special training. Philadelphia learned that when the police team ended up burning out an entire neighborhood over what started out as an attempt to serve a warrant on a group that had been using bull horns to broadcast its message all over the neighborhood day and night.

Sometimes people are shooting and cops need the same armor that soldiesr are supposed to have. But if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. We need to develop a different less macho type of authority. Maybe if we got a 60 year old mother and grandmother to offer some examples .....

[madrchsod]

22. they love playing cops and robbers?

no standard issue now in the police forces across the country when they deal with these types of situations.

[Solo_in_MD]

24. Read Dress for Success...uniforms do matter

It clearly outlines why uniforms are worn in the civilain world and the effect they have. It will surprise you.

Malloy did research on clothing using a double blind methodology, unheard of in the clothes biz, and it was quite enlightening.

[Algorem]

26. Donut-stain-removal tests have determined military uniforms are best.

It's science dammit!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

27. So they can look really skeeeeery and macho.

[jmowreader]

28. Because all police departments are paramilitary organizations

At least that's what a police officer once told me.

All police departments use military rank titles--officer, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain...you get the idea.

All police departments wear uniforms. They drive marked vehicles. They are all armed.

I don't know what the fuck is up with the patterned camouflage uniforms--black would seem (to me, at least) to be more effective camo in an urban environment than woodland pattern, but maybe the city got the uniforms, helmets and so on free from Homeland Security, who of course added their order to the Army's so they'd get the bulk discount.

[Beelzebud]

30. So when the military takes over their jobs, we'll be used to seeing those uniforms.

[951-Riverside]

31. I noticed that when I got my police equipment catalog this week

They have a whole shitload of camo equipment, I've never seen anything like it before. Next thing they will be trading those Crown Victorias for Hummers... vehicles.

[MrPrax]

32. It dehumanizes the wearer...

The 'cop' is more likely to identify with military ethic than civil servant ethic. A civil servant ethic by definition has an implied role for the public; a military ethic reduces the public to 'enemy'.

Cops never were meant to protect the public; just public peace.

[Hubert Flottz]

33. Joe Friday and Kojack didn't need that bullshit!

Give them a coat and tie.