The Impact of War on Terror on Local Law Enforcement Practices
Throughout the last decade, law enforcement officials can be identified as absolutely equal to soldiers; and this very aspect of law enforcement agencies comes to directly raise numerous concerns within the society. It becomes apparent that U.S. law enforcement practices incorporate the signs of a sharpened focus on military-grade equipment that U.S. authorities consider as a key factor that may potentially contribute to the effectiveness of counter-terrorism measures within the society. Surely, the given approach to elaborating on counter-terrorism strategy may seemingly make sense from the perspective of many U.S. officials extremely willing to charge masterminds in connection to criminal acts committed. Notwithstanding this fact, one should be conscious that some widely-acknowledged experts argue the idea that endowing law enforcement agencies with an opportunity to utilize military technology is likely to heighten the risk of a step backward in terms of the ongoing security situation. To be precise, it is important to understand that the current U.S. strategy to fight terrorism “...runs the risk of blurring the distinction between soldiers and peace officers.” (Rizer & Harman, 2011); and it should not be underestimated from the perspective of some hidden dangers for civilians, respectively.
Arguably, it is important to take into consideration the fact that the concept of military-style training entails a number of contentions dimensions. In particular, one has to know that when law enforcement officials look like soldiers due to having similar military uniform and weaponry, there is a high probability that they will begin to stick to the same goals; and a peculiar thing is that a soldier’s major job consists in liquidating the enemies. As a result, it is high time to adequately respond to the excessive use of military-style equipment by law enforcement agencies; and particular attention should be paid to the cases “... where the armoring up of police forces has been misused, often foolishly or because of lack of good training, good judgment, and good leadership.” (Regnery, 2014)
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References
Regnery, A. S. (2014, August 19). Police Militarization: It’s Not About the Equipment, It’s
About Keeping the Peace. Breitbart News Network. Retrieved from http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/08/19/militarization-of-law-enforcement-not-about-equipment-about-keeping-the-peace/
Rizer, A., & Harman, J. (2011, November 7). How the War on Terror Has Militarized the
Police. The Atlantic. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/how-the-war-on-terror-has- militarized-the-police/248047/
