Militarization of police

rdf:langString Militarization of police

rdf:langString left

rdf:langString A Colt AR-15 Carbine with a Colt 4×20 scope.

rdf:langString A Colt M4 Carbine with ACOG scope.

rdf:langString An M16A1 assault rifle.

rdf:langString The Heckler & Koch MP5, a submachine gun.

rdf:langString The .50 BMG calibre M107 sniper rifle is almost identical to the Barrett M82 pictured here.

rdf:langString A Colt AR-15 Carbine with a Colt 4×20 scope.

rdf:langString A Colt M4 Carbine with ACOG scope.

rdf:langString An M16A1 assault rifle.

rdf:langString The Heckler & Koch MP5, a submachine gun.

rdf:langString The .50 BMG calibre M107 sniper rifle is almost identical to the Barrett M82 pictured here.

rdf:langString vertical

rdf:langString M4A1 ACOG.png

rdf:langString AR15 A3 Tactical Carbine pic1.jpg

rdf:langString M16A1 brimob.jpg

rdf:langString MP5.jpg

rdf:langString The militarization of police (paramilitarization of police in some media) is the use of military equipment and tactics by law enforcement officers. This includes the use of armored personnel carriers (APCs), assault rifles, submachine guns, flashbang grenades, sniper rifles, and SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams. The militarization of law enforcement is also associated with intelligence agency–style information gathering aimed at the public and political activists and with a more aggressive style of law enforcement. Criminal justice professor Peter Kraska has defined militarization of police as "the process whereby civilian police increasingly draw from, and pattern themselves around, the tenets of militarism and the military model". Observers have noted the militarizing of the policing of protests. Since the 1970s, riot police have fired at protesters using guns with rubber bullets or plastic bullets. Tear gas, which was developed by the United States Army for riot control in 1919, is still widely used against protesters. The use of tear gas in warfare is prohibited by various international treaties that most states have signed; however, its law enforcement or military use for domestic or non-combat situations is permitted. Concerns about the militarization of police have been raised by both ends of the political spectrum in the United States, with both the libertarian Cato Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) voicing criticisms of the practice. The Fraternal Order of Police has spoken out in favor of equipping law enforcement officers with military equipment, claiming that it increases the officers' safety and enables them to protect members of the public and other first responders (e.g., firefighters and emergency medical services personnel). However, a 2017 study showed that police forces which received military equipment were more likely to have violent encounters with the public, regardless of local crime rates. A 2018 study found that militarized police units in the United States were more frequently deployed to communities with large shares of African-Americans, even after controlling for local crime rates. Many countries also have a gendarmerie, which is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. France classifies some weapons as "intermediary force weapons" such as its LBD 40 refitted version of the Swiss B&T GL06 military grenade launcher, which is used in riot police situations or against individual persons in more specific interventions. While not having the full power of military guns, some weapons are heavier than regular police weaponry and are still lethal. These are often referred to with the "limited lethality" appellation.