The Militarization of Police

 

Recently I observed a photo of the Norman Rockwell painting of a policeman sitting in a diner, and making friends with a young boy.  Next to that, was another painting, made in the Rockwell style, but the policeman was in more “military” gear, and the boy was African American, and the engagement did not appear as warm and friendly as in the original painting.  Under these two pictures was a question why this must be so.  I wrote this response.

Times change. When Norman Rockwell was painting, bad guys were "robbers" with revolvers. Villains did not declare war on cops or on society, and there were no school shootings. Parents were (for the most part) responsible, and our culture emphasized the desirability of public order over individual "liberty". 

 

After the columbine shooting, in response to the increased threat, and the obvious flaw in our prior tactics involving active shooters, cops all over the country began carrying rifles in their squad cars. If you expect a cop to go into an active shooter environment by himself, he not only needs a semi-auto rifle, and large-capacity handgun, but he needs also a ballistic vest, perhaps night vision, better communications (encrypted), and other "military" equipment. Then, because, he is asked to ONLY seriously hurt the people who pose a direct and violent threat, and yet must deal with people who are a threat but maybe not quite deadly, he must carry a tazer, pepper spray, and maybe some "beanbag" rounds for the shotgun. 

 

Make no mistake...most cops would rather be Norman Rockwell cops. But we did not declare war on the citizens. Some citizens brought war on us and many police agency heads are just politicians, who bend whichever way the political winds blow. Many departments, and agencies, find themselves without competent, moral, and wise leaders.

As our collective moral compass has fallen overboard, so have our individual morals. The concept of individual liberties, framed as they were by our civic duties, has also gone missing in action. Original intent, and founding principles are not in favor anymore. Thus, the "system" that was built upon certain presumptions, cannot work in this new paradigm. The more the paradigm shifts, the less effective will be a system of law and order, that promotes an old fashioned moral center nearly universally held by all citizens. We are no longer people, and states, "united". The culture war claims new victims everyday and the police are usually caught square in the middle.

Norman Rockwell could scarcely have envisioned the America we have become.