That the people of this country don’t want the Police to be militarized…..
Obama announces restrictions on distribution of military-style equipment to police.
Not only is the idea of the police being equipped with military weapons scary to a lot of people, but in many cases they have no training on how to use that same equipment.
Plus, when they dress and act like jack booted thugs stormtroopers, they get treated like they are stormtroopers….
Really, how does an MRAP aid in door to door searches (likely illegal anyway) for a bombing suspect, or for that mater any police activity? Why do the police need Grenade Launchers? Camouflage uniforms? While thre is some (very small) overlap in the tools that soldiers use and that which police use, it is very small. THe mission of policing is NOT that of soldiers occupying a country or region. The mission of a soldier is to break things that the enemy has until they surrender. The mission of the police is to keep the peace and protect the citizens from crime.
Different missions, different job. Different tools. Just because the DOD has a surplus doesn’t mean that they should be given to the police….
I think the police departments that have armed themselves with MRAPs, M2 machine guns and Grenade Launchers have lost sight of their missions, are afraid of the populations they police, or are wannabe soldiers.
I think Barry got this one right.