A question about Authoritarianism

vienna · 07-22-15, 08:09 PM

The whole militarization has been going on for almost 50 years. It all started with SWAT teams:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWAT

The initial purpose was acceptable: highly trained, well armed and equipped police teams to deal with the most violent criminal situations. However, it has morphed into the more commonplace rather than the more extraordinary. The whole SWAT idea was glamorized and mythologized once Hollywood started making TV shows like "S.W.A.T.", based on the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) own SWAT team. The militarization grew into a full paramilitary organization with the whole-hearted endorsement of the LAPD top brass, most notably former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, who parlayed the unit into his own cottage industry with a line of video games, books, etc. Gates lost his job as LAPD Chief following the leadership debacle that occurred during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. But his profiteering continued and his legacy of the "Hollywood" SWAT image inspired other US police departments to follow suit in organizing their own teams...

There is a need for such specially trained teams, but their use must be judicious. Here in LA, it is almost routine to see SWAT teams called out for some of the most mundane of crime scenes. In addition, the department has taken to equipping normal patrol officers in some of the military-style equipment formerly used only by the swat teams. A retired LAPD officer I used to know once remarked to me that the whole up scaling of patrol equipment owed more to envy than need by the patrol officers...

Some of the upgrading was an obvious necessity, particularly after the infamous "North Hollywood Shootout" in 1997:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout

It became rather more than obvious police-issue revolvers were of little use against a criminal element armed with semi- and full automatic weapons and high velocity rounds. For situations like this, there is a need for SWAT teams; however, as pointed out, the use of SWAT teams has become the equivalent, in everyday life, of using a shotgun to kill a fly...

The same retired LAPD officer also speculated to me he felt there was also a bit of envy among US cops when they saw foreign police officers (Europe, Israel, Asia, etc.) on the news fitted out with all manner of military gear; it was sort of "I want one, too!" boyish envy. There has to be a limit to what is appropriate and what is simply some police department's need to live out their GI Joe fantasies...

<O>

07-22-15, 08:09 PM	#18
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,720 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	The whole militarization has been going on for almost 50 years. It all started with SWAT teams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWAT The initial purpose was acceptable: highly trained, well armed and equipped police teams to deal with the most violent criminal situations. However, it has morphed into the more commonplace rather than the more extraordinary. The whole SWAT idea was glamorized and mythologized once Hollywood started making TV shows like "S.W.A.T.", based on the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) own SWAT team. The militarization grew into a full paramilitary organization with the whole-hearted endorsement of the LAPD top brass, most notably former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, who parlayed the unit into his own cottage industry with a line of video games, books, etc. Gates lost his job as LAPD Chief following the leadership debacle that occurred during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. But his profiteering continued and his legacy of the "Hollywood" SWAT image inspired other US police departments to follow suit in organizing their own teams... There is a need for such specially trained teams, but their use must be judicious. Here in LA, it is almost routine to see SWAT teams called out for some of the most mundane of crime scenes. In addition, the department has taken to equipping normal patrol officers in some of the military-style equipment formerly used only by the swat teams. A retired LAPD officer I used to know once remarked to me that the whole up scaling of patrol equipment owed more to envy than need by the patrol officers... Some of the upgrading was an obvious necessity, particularly after the infamous "North Hollywood Shootout" in 1997: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout It became rather more than obvious police-issue revolvers were of little use against a criminal element armed with semi- and full automatic weapons and high velocity rounds. For situations like this, there is a need for SWAT teams; however, as pointed out, the use of SWAT teams has become the equivalent, in everyday life, of using a shotgun to kill a fly... The same retired LAPD officer also speculated to me he felt there was also a bit of envy among US cops when they saw foreign police officers (Europe, Israel, Asia, etc.) on the news fitted out with all manner of military gear; it was sort of "I want one, too!" boyish envy. There has to be a limit to what is appropriate and what is simply some police department's need to live out their GI Joe fantasies... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __