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by dmix 4378 days ago
The war on drugs is de-escalating at the civil and state level but not the federal level.

The federal gov is the worrying one. They're the only ones operating with as much secrecy as possible, over-extending executive power, and the biggest reason local police are becoming militarized (via the federal program delivering them military equipment).
2 comments
themartorana 4378 days ago
Right, and the militarization of local police forces by the federal government puts those forces under federal control - not explicitly or illegally, but as in this case, they are subservient to - and answer to - the federal government rather than the local population they are meant to protect.
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jpgvm 4377 days ago
The fact they are rolling out what are effectively heavily armoured APCs to local police really worries me.

What possible use could local police have for such heavily armoured vehicles that wouldn't better be handled by SWAT or some other more specialised force?

I don't relish the idea of relatively untrained police officers operating said vehicles in riots etc..

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