http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsRV3y37qcs
The killing of unarmed suspects by police is not getting as much attention from the mainstream media now that the CIA torture report from the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee was made public. Still, there is a discussion we need to have about how law enforcement has evolved over the years and it is a conversation the media has mostly ignored.The media, while making the conversation mostly about race, has mentioned the militarization of law enforcement agencies to some degree. However, what the media hasn't discussed is how police departments got militarized in the first place and why it is about much more than a post-9/11 response.
What is the 1033 Program? What do law enforcement agencies actually receive from this program? What is the real problem with the militarization of police? Is it the equipment that police are receiving or is it the military tactics that police are now using? Who is affected most by an increase in SWAT raids using military tactics? The answer to these questions will shock many to their very core.
With tensions rising across the country over the militarization of police departments, it is important to understand the roots of the problem. In the most recent episode of the Truth in Media Project, independent investigative journalist Ben Swann provides a gut wrenching view of personal stories affected by militarization and its history while exposing its cause.
While the media uses the phrase "post-9/11" in many of its reports on police militarization, the events of September 11, 2001, may have little to do with it.
Photo credit not attributed