$34 billion in federal grants is arming our local police. For what exactly?

[PeeKnuckle]

Like Fargo, thousands of other local police departments nationwide have been amassing stockpiles of military-style equipment in the name of homeland security, aided by more than $34 billion in federal grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Daily Beast investigation conducted by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found.

Interactive Map: States Spend Billions on Homeland Security.

The buying spree has transformed local police departments into small, army-like forces, and put intimidating equipment into the hands of civilian officers. And that is raising questions about whether the strategy has gone too far, creating a culture and capability that jeopardizes public safety and civil rights while creating an expensive false sense of security.

The new weaponry and battle gear, they insist, helps save lives in the face of such threats. “I don’t see us as militarizing police; I see us as keeping abreast with society,” former Los Angeles Police chief William Bratton says. “And we are a gun-crazy society.”

Read on

http://news.yahoo.co...-094500010.html

[DUBL DUECE]

I read that and agree, too much militarizing of our police, and would any of that equipment stop a shooter on a rampage like the ones that they talk about? Nope.

[PeeKnuckle]

Agreed. Examples like those are silly.

[Dateranoth]

Makes you hope your local sheriff is really on the side of his people when things go to hell.

[jb410]

My local police department just got outfitted with all new squad cars that look like they're straight out of RoboCop. For some reason, they also got an suv (Ford Interception) that they didn't have before. Keep in mind, I live in a low crime rate suburban town.

Kinda confused me why/how they were able to purchase these new tech-decked out cars when something like the school budget is being highly scrutinized.

[PeeKnuckle]

Schools in California are closing, as more and more prisons are being built. Besides the federal money for the war on terror, police also get a ton of money from arresting marijuana offenders. They also seize a ton of stuff that way.

[Dateranoth]

I'm pleased to say Kentucky laxed up on the jail time here for drug offenders and a lot of other offenses. They are still largely at the whim of the judges, but police are no longer required to immediately detain for certain offenses.