August 2017 – Kevin Pham

In “How America’s police became so heavily armed” author F.j. explains why America’s police departments have been so heavily armed over the past years. Barack Obama barred the federal government from providing some military equipment to American police departments. The extraordinary arsenal maintained by some departments which includes body armour, powerful weapons and armoured vehicles had become highly visible over the previous year, as a result of outbreaks of unrest in response to police violence. Americans have grown used to seeing police respond to protests with tear gas, carrying automatic weapons and sniper rifles, and riding in vehicles that would not look out of place in Baghdad or Aleppo. Defense Department to transfer military gear and weapons to local police departments if they were deemed “suitable for use in counter-drug activities”. The American Civil Liberties Union found that the value of military equipment used by American police departments has risen from $1 million in 1990 to nearly $450 million in 2013. In 1980 SWAT teams across America were deployed around 3,000 times. Deployments are estimated to have risen nearly seventeen-fold since, to 50,000 a year. This tremendous rise in paramilitary police forces has occurred as violent-crime levels have fallen. And while SWAT teams remain essential for high-risk and dangerous situations, most SWAT teams are deployed to serve routine drug-related warrants on private homes, often with disastrous consequences. Radley Balko, a journalist who wrote the essential book on police militarisation, has found at least 50 cases where innocent people died as a result of botched SWAT raids.

Source: https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/05/economist-explains-22

Second Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/03/more-armed-police-to-patrol-the-streets-in-response-to-terror-at/

In “The new heavily armed face of counter terror policing is revealed” author Martin Evans talks about policemen are now training to be ready for terrorist attacks in cities, and how they need to be more heavily armed. Equipped with SIG 516 semi-automatic carbines and Glock 9mm sidearms, the counter-terror specialists are capable of racing to the scene of any potential incident on board specially adapted BMW F800 motorcycles. The SAS style officers are also trained to carry out water borne assaults from rigid inflatable hull vessels and even abseil into situations from hovering helicopters. Members of the public across London will begin to see an increase in armed patrols, particularly in high profile tourist areas, with an increased number of officers carrying semi-automatic weapons, Tasers and shotguns. But the plans come amid warnings from the Police Federation that plans to introduce 1,500 more armed officers nationally could take at least two years. If there is an attack it is unlikely to be an isolated incident. We’ve got to have the resources around the country because it might happen in multiple places at the same time. Sir Bernard said: “Anyone who’s been following events in Europe over the past few weeks will understand why we want to show our determination to protect the public.” They will help support newly recruited armed officers who will operate in visible roles across the capital to help reassure the public and deter any would be terrorists. Overall i believe that police officer should be armed for terrorist situations.

Month: August 2017

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