Does what he describes seem to be a trend to more than just him?
Site:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty_com/19990908_xcjod_police_act.shtml
Article:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
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Police action, military style
Plus: Newt's groveling excuses
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© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
As a naval reserve corpsman, when I was still assigned to the Marine Corps for combat training, we performed many "assault" drills designed to hone our attack skills. We didn't get into the urban assault drills much because at the time the military's emphasis was on conventional ground warfare, not urban "peacekeeping" or "humanitarian" missions, which bothers me.
Soldiers are not cops and vice versa. Or are they?
There is an "urban assault" mentality manifesting itself in local police departments more and more often these days, and that just plain isn't good for the cause of freedom. After looking at this issue from all sides, there doesn't seem to be much difference to me between a small unit Marine urban assault team and, say, the "special tactics" teams formed by numerous police departments over the past decade.
The problem, though, is that there is a difference. Or at least there is supposed to be. One is supposed to perform a military mission while the other is supposed to be operating in a law enforcement capacity.
Increasingly local police departments use helicopters -- often obtained as military surplus -- weapons, gear and tactics better suited for a combat zone rather than a suburban neighborhood. And these police officers have begun to develop an attitude towards the fulfillment of their mission that is entirely anathema to the "serve and protect" mantra emblazoned on their squad cars.
But because too many departments these days see boogey men and drug runners behind every rock, law abiding American citizens are being killed in the middle of the night by cops who are nothing but two-bit storm troopers. This has got to stop.
Like most conservatives, I'm all for law and order. And I'm all for prosecuting the drug war -- which ought to be done in Columbia, not here. And I'm all for cops protecting themselves; they are one of our prime defensive lines against anarchy in our streets.
But when law enforcement becomes a senseless killing machine because the tactics they employ are all wrong for their kind of "mission," I'm ready to say, "enough is enough." You cannot arbitrarily, as a police officer, kill innocent civilians in this country simply because you "get off" on acting like a commando when making an arrest. Most cops I know tell me that such "high risk arrests" are rare and that often these "special tactics teams" are overused to justify their existence.
In this latest case, the FBI has gotten involved. But considering the FBI's handling of Waco, I don't have much faith in them, either. In fact, the FBI's "Hostage Rescue Team" is an oxymoron and is larger and more militaristic than similar squads in many other law enforcement agencies.
No, this is something Congress and the president of the United States need to handle. The right of Americans to be "secure in their persons, papers and effects, " even on presentation of a valid search warrant, is the government's responsibility to protect. Instead, Congress has given local police departments the authority -- mostly through federal anti-drug legislation -- to conduct these kinds of military "raids" with no oversight.
There should be legislation -- which is "loophole-free" -- that triggers the automatic prosecution of police officers and their leaders who storm into homes in the middle of the night and kill innocent people. Bad intelligence or laziness is no cover for killing an innocent person. If you or I did that, we'd be hauled up before a judge and -- rightly -- charged with homicide. If Congress hasn't got the cajones to pass this, then each statehouse should.
If 20 members of a heavily armed drug gang are holed up in a building, fine -- storm the place and take 'em out. But you don't show up in a suburban neighborhood in the middle of the night to arrest one person with 15 cop-commandos. If you even need that many officers, what's wrong with surrounding the place with 15 uniform cops and knocking on the front door? Or, at a minimum, keeping a contingent of SWAT team members in the area in case they're needed?
For those times when it may be necessary to "raid" a house using SWAT tactics, police officers and their leaders owe us the right to be "presumed innocent until proven guilty." They owe us the right to make sure they've got their facts straight before they go busting into our homes and kill us in the middle of the night. Finding out afterwards that we've done nothing wrong won't bring us -- or our loved ones -- back from the dead. Such tactics teach our kids to fear -- not respect -- the police.
And God help us if we "dare" to try to defend ourselves from such a felonious assault.
[/quote]
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John/az
"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.quixtar.com
referal #2005932
Site:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty_com/19990908_xcjod_police_act.shtml
Article:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police action, military style
Plus: Newt's groveling excuses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
As a naval reserve corpsman, when I was still assigned to the Marine Corps for combat training, we performed many "assault" drills designed to hone our attack skills. We didn't get into the urban assault drills much because at the time the military's emphasis was on conventional ground warfare, not urban "peacekeeping" or "humanitarian" missions, which bothers me.
Soldiers are not cops and vice versa. Or are they?
There is an "urban assault" mentality manifesting itself in local police departments more and more often these days, and that just plain isn't good for the cause of freedom. After looking at this issue from all sides, there doesn't seem to be much difference to me between a small unit Marine urban assault team and, say, the "special tactics" teams formed by numerous police departments over the past decade.
The problem, though, is that there is a difference. Or at least there is supposed to be. One is supposed to perform a military mission while the other is supposed to be operating in a law enforcement capacity.
Increasingly local police departments use helicopters -- often obtained as military surplus -- weapons, gear and tactics better suited for a combat zone rather than a suburban neighborhood. And these police officers have begun to develop an attitude towards the fulfillment of their mission that is entirely anathema to the "serve and protect" mantra emblazoned on their squad cars.
But because too many departments these days see boogey men and drug runners behind every rock, law abiding American citizens are being killed in the middle of the night by cops who are nothing but two-bit storm troopers. This has got to stop.
Like most conservatives, I'm all for law and order. And I'm all for prosecuting the drug war -- which ought to be done in Columbia, not here. And I'm all for cops protecting themselves; they are one of our prime defensive lines against anarchy in our streets.
But when law enforcement becomes a senseless killing machine because the tactics they employ are all wrong for their kind of "mission," I'm ready to say, "enough is enough." You cannot arbitrarily, as a police officer, kill innocent civilians in this country simply because you "get off" on acting like a commando when making an arrest. Most cops I know tell me that such "high risk arrests" are rare and that often these "special tactics teams" are overused to justify their existence.
In this latest case, the FBI has gotten involved. But considering the FBI's handling of Waco, I don't have much faith in them, either. In fact, the FBI's "Hostage Rescue Team" is an oxymoron and is larger and more militaristic than similar squads in many other law enforcement agencies.
No, this is something Congress and the president of the United States need to handle. The right of Americans to be "secure in their persons, papers and effects, " even on presentation of a valid search warrant, is the government's responsibility to protect. Instead, Congress has given local police departments the authority -- mostly through federal anti-drug legislation -- to conduct these kinds of military "raids" with no oversight.
There should be legislation -- which is "loophole-free" -- that triggers the automatic prosecution of police officers and their leaders who storm into homes in the middle of the night and kill innocent people. Bad intelligence or laziness is no cover for killing an innocent person. If you or I did that, we'd be hauled up before a judge and -- rightly -- charged with homicide. If Congress hasn't got the cajones to pass this, then each statehouse should.
If 20 members of a heavily armed drug gang are holed up in a building, fine -- storm the place and take 'em out. But you don't show up in a suburban neighborhood in the middle of the night to arrest one person with 15 cop-commandos. If you even need that many officers, what's wrong with surrounding the place with 15 uniform cops and knocking on the front door? Or, at a minimum, keeping a contingent of SWAT team members in the area in case they're needed?
For those times when it may be necessary to "raid" a house using SWAT tactics, police officers and their leaders owe us the right to be "presumed innocent until proven guilty." They owe us the right to make sure they've got their facts straight before they go busting into our homes and kill us in the middle of the night. Finding out afterwards that we've done nothing wrong won't bring us -- or our loved ones -- back from the dead. Such tactics teach our kids to fear -- not respect -- the police.
And God help us if we "dare" to try to defend ourselves from such a felonious assault.
[/quote]
------------------
John/az
"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.quixtar.com
referal #2005932