Tag: Militarization

Those Killings By Police

I have written many times about the deaths caused by the police mostly against people of color and how that can be eliminated….for one stop equipping the police with military weapons……that could go s long way at solving this murder problem of people of color.

Why would I say that?

There is a body of proof that illustrates the PDsm that get military equipment have a higher kill ratio of the public than those that do not get the equipment from the DoD.

Americans have seen it time and again in recent months on the nightly news: Protesters in the streets confronted by local police officers carrying assault rifles, some atop armored vehicles, looking more like soldiers than public servants.

Much of that equipment has trickled down to police departments from a controversial Defense Department initiative known as the 1033 program, a 30-year-old federal initiative that provides a way for the military to dispose of surplus equipment by sending it to local police.

…

The results paint a troubling picture: The more equipment a department receives, the more people are shot and killed, even after accounting for violent crime, race, income, drug use and population.

Only 7% of Georgia’s law enforcement agencies received surplus military gear at any time over the 10 years, but those agencies accounted for 17% of the 261 people shot and killed by police.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/10/09/police-killings-more-likely-agencies-get-military-gear-data-shows.html

Instead of basically giving this equipment away why cannot the DoD sell it to Third World countries that could use it for their own defense and the US could recoup a bit of the cash it spent funding the development of this equipment?

Just A Though!

For those inquiring minds……further reading will fill any gaps….

https://lobotero.com/2018/09/07/closing-thought-07sep18/

https://lobotero.com/2020/07/21/is-it-police-reform-or-defund-or-abolition/

https://lobotero.com/2020/06/24/de-fund-the-police/

There is more….but it will take some interest if you would like to search IST…..

Time for the Police to return to their motto of “protect and serve” and leave the fascistic BS of “punish and enslave” to the garbage heap of history.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–02Oct20

If you do not have an opinion on the round of protests then you are either stupid or live under a rock in a magic garden somewhere….

One of the big debates is that the police do not need military gear to “protect and serve”…if that is truly their intention (some of us doubt the slogan)….

I for one do not believe they need this equipment makes them feel they are above the law and invincible.

The Dems in Congress have offered up a bill to cut back on the military hardware police departments can get from the Pentagon….

Dozens of congressional Democrats are urging committee chairs to limit the types of military-grade equipment sent to local police departments amid ongoing protests over racial injustice.

More than 40 Democrats signed a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees calling on them to include the restrictions in the final version of the annual defense policy bill.

“As House and Senate conferees negotiate the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we encourage you to ensure that the conference report includes provisions requiring reform of the Sec. 1033 Program by imposing additional conditions and limitations on the transfer of Department of Defense property for law enforcement activities,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter, a draft of which was obtained by The Hill ahead of its release, was sent to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.), House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), top Senate Armed Services Democrat Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.) and top House Armed Services Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry (Texas).

The letter was organized by House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and co-signed by 41 other House Democrats. Several outside groups, including the progressive group Demand Progress, also backed the letter.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/518203-democrats-push-for-defense-bill-restrictions-on-transferring-military-grade

A damn good idea to de-militarize the police departments…..an idea that has been a long time coming……

WAIT!

Did not the Dems try something like this in 2015?

Why yes they did!

It was a waste of time and another plank in their attempt to look like they care for the upcoming election in 2016.

But do not take my word for it…I have the post here…..https://lobotero.com/2015/05/11/dems-launch-effort-to-demilitarize-police-thehill/

A familiar tactic.

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Empire Is Collapsing

Since the end of World War 2 the US has been the pinnacle of military power….not surpassed by any other country or power…..

The Pentagon is worried that their power base is diminishing in today’s world…..so they had a think tank issue a report that would help their case for more and resources…..

An extraordinary new Pentagon study has concluded that the US-backed framework of international order established after World War II is “fraying” and may even be “collapsing,” leading the United States to lose its position of “primacy” in world affairs.

The solution proposed to protect US power in this new “post-primacy” environment is, however, more of the same: more surveillance, more propaganda (“strategic manipulation of perceptions”) and more military expansionism.

Source: Pentagon Study Declares American Empire Is ‘Collapsing’ | Alternet

If you would like to read this war mongers diatribe then below link will help…..

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) faces persistent fundamental change in its strategic and operating environments. This report suggests this reality is the product of the United States entering or being in the midst of a new, more competitive, post-U.S. primacy environment. Post-primacy conditions promise far-reaching impacts on U.S. national security and defense strategy. Consequently, there is an urgent requirement for DoD to examine and adapt how it develops strategy and describes, identifies, assesses, and communicates corporate-level risk. This report takes on the latter risk challenge. It argues for a new post-primacy risk concept and its four governing principles of diversity, dynamism, persistent dialogue, and adaptation. The authors suggest that this approach is critical to maintaining U.S. military advantage into the future. Absent change in current risk convention, the report suggests DoD exposes current and future military performance to potential failure or gross under-performance.

Source: At Our Own Peril: DoD Risk Assessment in a Post-Primacy World

The perfect recipe to incite fear and dread and eventually get all the cash they want….

Everyone needs to read and understand what the Pentagon has planned for the nation in the years to come.

24 Armed Cops and a Military Truck Dispatched to Take Money from Old Man – Hit & Run : Reason.com

Since Ferguson and the protests and the reaction of the police America has been told about the militarization of police departments….and of course there are those that feel the police need this military equipment to deal with modern situations……

I for one think that logic is preposterous……but then I read a piece like this and then my feeling is it is unnecessary and pathetic….

After reading this article my only reaction was….,REALLY?

 

24 Armed Cops and a Military Truck Dispatched to Take Money from Old Man – Hit & Run : Reason.com.