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Why Do the Police Have Tanks? The Strange and Dangerous Militarization of the US Police Force We have created circumstances under which the American people are no longer individuals protected by the Bill of Rights, but rather "enemy combatants." The
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consequences of such a mindset have proven time and again to be lethal, as we now rely on military ideology and practice to respond to crime and justice. The federal government is supplying local police departments with military uniforms, weaponry, vehicles, and training. America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement over the last 30 years, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units for routine police work. In fact, the most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home. Some 40,000 of these raids take place every year, and are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they’re sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers.These raids have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries. The reality is that SWAT team raids actually escalate provocation, usually resulting in senseless violence in what would otherwise be a routine, nonviolent police procedure.
Why Do the Police Have Tanks? The Strange and Dangerous Militarization of the US Police Force We have created circumstances under which the American people are no longer individuals protected by the Bill of Rights, but rather "enemy combatants." The
consequences of such a mindset have proven time and again to be lethal, as we now rely on military ideology and practice to respond to crime and justice. The federal government is supplying local police departments with military uniforms, weaponry, vehicles, and training. America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement over the last 30 years, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units for routine police work. In fact, the most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home. Some 40,000 of these raids take place every year, and are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they’re sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers.These raids have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries. The reality is that SWAT team raids actually escalate provocation, usually resulting in senseless violence in what would otherwise be a routine, nonviolent police procedure. 
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