OK, is this really necessary? Police seem rather overfunded...

[Humanist_Activist]

Link to tweet

?s=20

Couple of thoughts, one is, were they expecting IEDs or someone with a rocket launcher? Also, if I were having a mental health issue, the last thing I would want to see is an armored vehicle roll up like this, seriously, what the fuck is with this shit.

This reminds me of when the Ferguson Protests first started, I remember driving down the road, miles from the protest, and a fucking APC with "St. Louis County Police" stenciled on it rode right up on my ass, couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was the same one a fucking sniper used as a nest to point their gun at protestors in obvious intimidation that night.

Why are police acting and looking like an occupational force and not civilian law enforcement?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

1. If I got a huge military looking

SWAT truck pull up to take me to the psych unit,depending on the type of crisis I was going through,it would have freaked me right out.

I would have regretted asking for help.

[uponit7771]

2. K&R, CPD has paid out what? 500 million in the last 30 years? How in the hell are they affording ...

... this kind of equipment?

Oh right, they're taking it from other community funds ... some PDs police don't mind defunding the communities they're supposed to serve

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. "Why are police acting and looking like an occupational force and not civilian law enforcement?"

Because...that's what they are.

[FakeNoose]

6. Remember when we called them "peace officers"?

How quaint ... those days are long over.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. No. They've always been in the service of capital and white supremacy.

[Humanist_Activist]

11. True, it's an intersectionality between race and class....

As a white guy, I generally do not expect much negative interaction with police, but as someone with not a lot of resources, I don't expect them to protect or my family.

[2naSalit]

8. The awful truth.

[VarryOn]

4. Defund the police...everywhere...today...nt

[Yavin4]

5. America, where brute force solves all of our problems both domestically and internationally.

Mental Health care professionals? Trained first responders to de-escalate? Not in America. What will they propose next? Using diplomacy to solve international problems instead of dropping missiles?

[uponit7771]

12. +1, we have the hammer of military force and everything is a nail

[Mazeltov Cocktail]

9. At the Parkland mass shooting...

I remember seeing an actual tank rolling up to the school...it was totally unnecessary since the armed resource officer (Scott Peterson) was cowering outside during the massacre...but I'm sure the police thought it made them look strong.

[uponit7771]

13. +1,

[Ron Green]

10. The biggest line item, by far, in my city's budget.

I suspect this is true all over the country.

[Wounded Bear]

14. Your last line basically says it all...

Police need to stop thinking like an occupying force and more like a peacekeeping and crime fighting organization.

But the hardest thing to do is to change people's basic attitudes about thing. Most people don't realize they are thinking in toxic ways until they are forced to see it.

[RegularJam]

15. They are very pro-escalation. nt

[intheflow]

16. Police forces get military hand-me-downs.

How police militarization became an over $5 billion business coveted by the defense industry

Source: CNBC