Obama Administration Moves To Curtail Police Militarization

The Obama administration will announce Monday that local police departments will no longer receive some forms of surplus military gear in a move designed to combat the expanding militarization of local police forces, NBC News is reporting.

Obama is in Camden, New Jersey – long considered one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. – to discuss plans to reform the institution of policing in the country, in light of a spate of incidents involving police brutality, and a sense of general mistrust between police and regular Americans that has sometimes led to violent protests.

The first priority for the administration is scaling back police militarization. Following today’s announcement, local police departments will no longer receive military gear such as tanks, armored assault vehicles, weaponized aircraft, bayonets, and grenade launchers from the federal government.

Some forms of military gear will still be available to local police departments, but only if the department can provide a “clear and persuasive explanation of the need for the controlled equipment.” Further, such military equipment will only go to police departments that have complied with a set of Justice Department policies known as “General Policing Standards.”

Those standards include, among other things, the implementation of so-called “Community Policing,” which encourages police to interact with citizens and regularly meet with community leaders.

The Obama administration’s move comes on the same day as the release of a Justice Department report compiled by the 21st Century Policing Task Force, a committee charged with coming up with solutions for the problem of police-community relations, according to The Guardian.

“Law enforcement culture should embrace a guardian – rather than a warrior – mindset to build trust and legitimacy both within agencies and with the public.”

The issue of militarization of local police forces became the subject of a national conversation in August 2014, following alarming scenes of heavily-armed, camouflaged police in tanks and armored vehicles on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri during protests following the shooting of Michael Brown.

Although the militarization of police became a national headline in 2014, the program that allows it dates back to 1997. The program’s popularity skyrocketed following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, according to The New York Times, particularly as lawmakers and local police departments sought ways to keep their communities safe.

Ron Davis, a 30-year police veteran and former chief of the East Palo Alto Police Department, says via The Guardian that he believes scaling back police militarization will make communities safer.

“We have a unique opportunity to redefine policing in our democracy, to ensure that public safety becomes more than the absence of crime, that it must also include the presence of justice.”

Do you believe that scaling back police militarization is the right move? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[Image courtesy of: Getty Images/Scott Olson]