![]() ![]() In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Balko shows how politicians' ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. ![]() ![]() And these are just four among a slew of reckless programs. ![]() Nixon's War on Drugs, Reagan's War on Poverty, Clinton's COPS program, the post-9/11 security state under Bush and Obama: by degrees, each of these innovations expanded and empowered police forces, always at the expense of civil liberties. The unrest of the 1960s brought about the invention of the SWAT unit-which in turn led to the debut of military tactics in the ranks of police officers. Today's armored-up policemen are a far cry from the constables of early America. The consequences have been dire: the home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as an other-an enemy. But according to investigative reporter Radley Balko, over the last several decades, America's cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement. The last days of colonialism taught America's revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. ![]()
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