Running head: MILITARIZATION OF POLICE 1

Militarization of Police
Name
Institution
Course
Date
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Militarization of police
Question one
Militarization of police officers involves the use of military equipment and tactics by
police. The militarization has occurred along with a considerable decline in public trust in the
police forces (Moule et al., 2019). Even though the public still relies on the police to protect their
community, the trust has declined since the 2000s. Research has shown that many Americans,
especially from the minority groups, believe that the police have gone too far with military
equipments to the point of causing more danger to the citizens (Moule et al., 2019). Most
Americans believe that the militarization of the police force was unnecessary and that it has led
to the declining of the healthy relationship between the community and the police. The
community has stopped putting their trust in the police force and has started considering it their
enemy. In 2014, following the protest of Michael Brown killings by the nonresponse association,
police showed up in the demonstration in armed vehicles, with mask guns and bulletproof vests,
M4 rifles, and brandishing shotguns. The incident caught the attention of many, criticizing the
law enforcement department leading to Executive order 13688(EO) (Delehanty et al., 2017). The
EO was tasked to regulate department 1033, allocating military equipments to law officers and
tribal law enforcement agencies. The department regulates what is issued and trains persons on
the use of the equipments (Delehanty et al., 2017). Regardless of this, statistics have shown that
in 2017 every 10 military equipment issued led to decreased crime cases by 5.9 fewer in every
100,000 cases. However, research shows that the military equipment was not involved in the
reduced cases (Moule et al., 2019). The overall impact of the militarization of the police force is
a community that fears the police and considers them a threat to the community at large.
Question 2
I believe that the change is bad for the police and the citizens. If citizens do not trust the
police with their own lives, it eradicates the need for the police department. The main aim of
having the police force is to make the community feel protected and not intimidated. This change
has also given the police the authority to use the equipment acquired through militarization to
instill fear in the community. The police force works hand in hand with the community to reduce
crime. This has led to the development of the police-community relationship, which has made
the people believe that the police are their friends. However, militarization has led to the decline
of this relationship. The people do not want to be associated with the police due to the bad
reputation that the b police force has gained due to the militarization. The police force is now
unable to gain intelligence and insight from the community. The police department should take
the matter into their own hands and regulate the use of military force on ordinary citizens, as they
are not terrorists. It is essential to understand that a terrorist is different from a common traffic
law offender. It is terrible for the police if the community would prefer to defund the police
department. If the community feels like the police are causing more harm than care, it would
prefer the absence of a police department and the development of a new security system.
Currently, in the United States, most African Americans and other minority groups are
advocating for police defunding because they feel like the police are hurting them more,
especially following the current spree of police brutality, for example, the death of George Floyd
caused by a police officer.
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Question 3
The change is not good for society. Society has lost trust in the police department for its
use of lethal forces. The law enforcement department and the community must work together. In
the absence of the community, the law department ceases to exist; the police need the community
to be aware of society's issues. When a society fails to trust the police, then the police have failed
in their duties. If the community succeeds in causing police defunding, society might not be safe
without the police. The police will also fail to participate adequately in their department,
Creating an unsafe community or country. The community is also not assured of their safety
since the police force has been at the forefront of abuse the community's human rights. As a
result of the demarcation created by this change, the police and the community coexist as
enemies, and this leads to more injustices in the community.
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Reference
Delehanty, C., Mewhirter, J., Welch, R., & Wilks, J. (2017). Militarization and police violence:
The case of the 1033 program. Research & Politics, 4(2), 2053168017712885.
Moule Jr, R. K., Burruss, G. W., Parry, M. M., & Fox, B. (2019). Assessing the direct and
indirect effects of legitimacy on public empowerment of police: A study of public
support for police militarization in America. Law & society review, 53(1), 77-107.