4/21/15
Militarizing
police has psychological consequences for both the community the police force
serves, and the officers themselves. As "When Peace Officers Dress for
War" points out, police officers who dress and act military-like, become
military-like overtime automatically. It makes "their uniform and
vocabulary of war reinforces their mind-sets" and "they become
distanced from the community."
This distance from the community
that a military-like police force causes is a dangerous thing. The trust that a
police force is there to help a community is eliminated by the idea that rather
than helping, they are controlling a community. A police officer, as the
article calls them “Peace Officers” should be just that; a peace officer. Their
goal should not be to scare a community with their fancy and dangerous
equipment so that the community is terrified of what could be used against them
if they commit a crime or protest, etc.
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