07-20-2020, 09:06 AM
(07-20-2020, 02:56 AM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: "almost never used" is somewhat an issue. I want a well equipped police force. But maybe teaching the peace keepers how to kill and giving them the tools to kill isn't the best approach. Or maybe our training methods are incorrect.
I also pay attention to the local news and have seen shit like this before.
https://www.fox19.com/2020/03/03/addyston-police-chiefs-purchase-machine-guns-drew-feds-attention/
I don't know how wasteful the spending actually is. I constantly hear crazy OT abuse accusations about local police, and I know military spending is just wasteful so I assume a lot of police departments have their share of waste. Apparently a lot of the heavy duty gear is hand me down from the military, but I assume there is a decent part of the budget for lethal weapons?
The start of local police getting body armour and high powered weapons was a bank robbery in Oakland where the robbers had greater firpower than the police.
that is slightly different than Riot Gear, but it is hard to argue against riot gear now that we have had violent riots non-stop across the country for the last 6 weeks.
Using riot gear against peaceful protestors is like Birmingham Police Chief Bull Conner using dogs and fire hoses against children and peaceful marchers. It garners sympathy from the general public for the protestors. That is what happened when Trump used federal muscle to clear a path for him to get a photo op at a church. But citizens will have no problem with police having riot gear when they see mass destruction and burning in the streets.
I think this is a perfect example of "defunding the police". The national guard should be used for riot control instead of local police.
