“When the government equips police departments like they’re equipping the military, we undermine healthy relationships between the police and the community,” explains Equal Justice Initiative director Bryan Stevenson. “We have created a culture where police officers think of themselves as warriors, not guardians.”
via How the Police and the Pentagon Are Bringing Our Wars Home
So my knowledge of history is sketchy and very personalised, so I am open to being shot down in flames in the conclusions I might draw.
As a dual British/Australian citizen, I confess to being proud of neither country for the legacy of the colonisation and settlement which is attached to their gunship methods.
In the case of the colonising of both America and Australia, but perhaps more so in the case of America, the invading forces relied on their military to keep the peace. A consequence of this has been a much more militaristic approach being adopted by the later law and order forces established in those countries.
People are often amazed to hear that in the UK, the police do not normally carry guns.
via The legacy of colonisation – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Trump’s “America First” talk doesn’t mean retrenchment. He just wants us to dominate everyone and rule the world
olddogthoughts 