Is Trump right to militarise US Police?

@Virgo79 You find that funny? That police are being given grenade launchers and bayonets?

@BlueMetalChick no your what's funny.
I talked to our chief of police your story is way, way over some here.

@Virgo79 You're calling me funny for linking you to a disturbing video. I fail to see any humor in that whatsoever. This is the third time you've done this. I make a point, and you follow it with "lol your funny"

@malizz Tbh, I can only see the police having access to that sort of hardware making it far more likely to fall into the hands of criminals. It's a very bad idea to presume that there's not going to be a single bent cop willing to steal and sell weapons.

@Gauntlets28 Like what happened in the Middle East.

@malizz You know, that is exactly what I had in mind. Either it's like Iraq, where they had huge amounts of weapons they were unable to guard, or like Syria where they manage to turn peaceful-ish protests into full blown civil war because they can't hold back on trying out their new bombs and gasses on civilians.

@19StarPrincess As my grandad said, you can't argue in the mortuary.

@cycleman That's my point. I'm being sarcastic.

@BlueMetalChick it scares the bleeping daylights out of me.

@cycleman I left my country of birth because of ongoing civil war. Guns freak me out too.

@ImParis The US has tried and tested them against the civilians of many countries.

@malizz The sarcasm here was brutal.

@ImParis *redneck accent* duntcha know dat gunz r da last line uh duhfense agenst turrany? we nead dem dere gunz 2 pruhtekt r selvz frum da gubmint.

@Johnson212 Absolutely. The violent left must be taught that they cannot destroy and use violence to get their way. They will need to learn to make coherent arguments to sway public opinion. Violence does not persuade, it invites more violence.

@BlueMetalChick Actually they have killed people not Antifa by that name but the left wing groups Anitifa sprang from have, their ideals are not much different than the weather underground.

@Johnson212 Yeah? And how long ago was that? Over 70% of domestic terrorism in the United States is driven by far right wing groups and idealists, so I think it's safe to say you're focusing on the wrong target. And that's not my statistic, that's from New America's exhaustive study of deaths caused by terrorism within the US and the people who committed them. There were even more attacks from right wing extremism than there were from jihadist Muslims, although the attacks from jihadists did kill more people in total, but with fewer attacks.

@Ellen hmmm... but is putting a military vehicle in an urban environment the
Best way to fight crime? Couldn't the military sell these to other countries or scrap the materials?

@Mrsmeta Not sure where they are ending up now. Likely they are in a yards rotting away. Government is very inefficient. There are fields and fields of obsolete aircraft sitting in AZ. So I imagine the same goes for any other obsolete or surplus vehicles. But like I said, our town, as well as many others along the coast have these vehicles which they use only during emergencies..like superstorm Sandy.
And no..local police have no need for grenade launchers. That's why I'd like to know what local police departments actually have any.

@Mrsmeta Next thing you know, they will be used against us.

hi Gauntlets28
There is no possible legitimate use of a grenade launcher by a Police Department. Logically all that is left is illegitimate uses. The US Constitution is often said to enshrine Citizen's rights and freedoms. How will it protect them from Their President and Police?
Bst wishes
:)

@Gauntlets28 I never saw those at any military surplus, lol.

@Gauntlets28 I guess you missed what obama did to our law enforcement in this country. They have never been militarized but the idiots on the left have claimed they were. obama and his injustice department stuck their nose into state business, against the constitution, and literally took their power away by threatening to label them racist. You morons listen to "stats" that seem to show that a disproportionate percentage of blacks are stopped by police, etc. but no one bothers to point out that more blacks are out driving and walking around than white people. Well, if you[re out in public instead of inside your home the chance of being stopped is going to be greater. Just threatening to label someone racist is enough to get someone to do what you want, and that is wrong. If your agenda is right it wont need to be forced.

@katielass If there weren't any "militarised police" in the first place, then the ban on military weaponry won't have done anything to affect that beyond guaranteeing that the police remained "unmilitarised". So what purpose does it serve to remove the ban on obscene and unnecessary hardware? Nothing but to give the police, who are still civilians despite what they might claim, the capability to possess destructive power beyond what they should never be allowed to have.
So apparently black people are the only ones that step beyond their front doors anymore in the USA? No wonder you guys have an obesity problem... As for your disregard for statistics, certainly they're open to interpretation, but what do you think can be substituted for data? Imaginings? Fantasies? Blind guesses? Sad as it might seem, statistics are still the best way to understand the wider world. It's not the data's fault if people aren't using it correctly.

@malizz He never knows what he's doing though does he? He's kind of made it clear in the last year how much he's winging it. 🙄

hi malizz
good point.
The guns in private hands are the biggest reason to militarise The Police. The guns are owned by Trump supporters who are also going to be the core group displaced by robotisation.
Best wishes
:)

@DemonicPersona What a waste!! I could have eaten those dogs!

@BlueMetalChick I know I thought the same they waste everything