Rolling Back the Militarization of America’s Police
By The Denver Post Editorial Board:
The Obama administration took a major step Monday to rein in the absurd militarization of police by banning the transfer of some — but not nearly enough — military equipment to local law enforcement.
It was a long overdue move to roll back a policy that has been in place for decades. In recent years, however, the provision of military equipment to civilian agencies has become increasingly controversial as more and more small agencies — even at universities — got into the act.
While the crackdown is welcome, it only addresses part of the problem. To be sure, local police have no need for tracked armored vehicles, the highest-caliber firearms and camouflage uniforms, which will no longer be provided to them. But do they need monster-wheeled armored vehicles such as the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle, which weighs in at 18 tons?
And yet, such wheeled armored vehicles will still be available, even if requests will be given greater scrutiny than before.
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