Closing Thought–10Feb22

For years there has been a push to limit the amount of military gear that is given to the local police departments….and as one would think there has been a significant amount of pressure to continue the militarization of our police forces.

Biden in the beginning of his days as president tried to keep a political promise….but as usual he was a failure at this……and as usual it will not be a sweeping effort and riddled with loopholes (like all American bills)……

Since his efforts for a bill to stop this militarization he will resort to a tried and true…..executive order (EO)……

After more than a year in office, Joe Biden may finally take action on police militarization. A leaked draft of an executive order obtained by The Federalist contains a provision that would place restrictions on the federal government’s provision of military equipment to state and local police. Some powerful police interest groups have already publicly expressed opposition to the prospective measure.

Police unions successfully compelled the Biden White House to retract a similar measure a year ago. During the president’s first days in office, the White House announced that he  would sign an executive order that would recall a range of military equipment acquired by police through federal channels. But after a successful lobbying effort by law enforcement interest groups, the order was never issued.

A similar lobbying effort appears to be in the works this time around, too, so there is a chance that Biden will once again cave to the whims of police interest groups. However, there is more pressure for Biden to act now than there was last January. Biden’s signature police reform bill, the Justice in Policing Act, passed the House in March but stalled out in the Senate. By September, negotiations over the bill had collapsed entirely.

With no prospect for legislative action, the bill’s lead negotiators, Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Karen Bass, have called on Biden to resort to executive orders to ensure that key parts of the Act take effect — among them, a provision that would place strict restrictions on the Pentagon’s 1033 program. Local police forces have acquired at least $1.8 billion worth of excess military equipment through the 1033 program since its inception during the War on Drugs. This influx of combat gear to local communities has contributed to increased police violence and inflated law enforcement budgets

Biden’s clamp-down on military gear to local police has giant loophole

In other words to put a simpler point on this issue….very little will change and the police will continue to use military equipment against its own people.

It is sad that the police need armored cars to deal with local disputes….all we are missing are jack boots…..

My disappointment with Biden continues to grow.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”