Police Militarization: A Brief History
With the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests, much attention has been turned to law enforcement, their methods, equipment, and role. Before we look at how to fix the problems inherent in law enforcement and their interactions and role in society, it will be helpful to look at how we got to where we are. How has there been so much police militarization?
The Father of Modern Law Enforcement
Augustus “Gus” Vollmer is the man most people identify as the father of modern law enforcement. He was a veteran of the Spanish-American War in the Philippines and brought a military attitude to policing. Many of his innovations were sensible, but many have had unfortunate consequences. His tenure proved to have a very mixed legacy.
On the positive side, Vollmer spurred law enforcement to be more professional. Some of the improvements he is credited with include bicycle and automobile patrols, centralised record keeping, police call box networks, and marksmanship training. He also wanted police to be more educated and better trained. Since very little literature or educational material about law enforcement existed in the US, he imported some from Europe, and then wrote more himself. He also played a significant role in persuading colleges and universities to begin offering programs in criminal justice and “police science”.
Vollmer supported charitable programs and encouraged leniency towards what we would consider “low level offenders” today. He encouraged the training and hiring of women and African Americans in law enforcement. Though unpopular in a period where people were pushing for prohibition of “vices”, Vollmer was against moralistic vice laws.
On the other hand, in his training material and courses, Vollmer taught that there were different “racial types” and that heredity and “racial degeneration” were contributing factors to criminal activity. While his military service gave him a background that helped make policing more efficient, it also helped set the stage for later militarization.
Prohibition: The First Police Militarization Period
The first period of militarization of police in the US was during the 1920’s and 1930’s, although the stages was set for it by veterans of the Philippine-American War. Vollmer was far from the only veteran to enter law enforcement. These veterans brought with them military tactics and thinking. During the Prohibition Era, conflict with gangsters, moonshiners, and others inspired law enforcement to begin using automatic weapons such as the Thompson sub-machine gun as well as armoured vehicles.
The Civil Rights Era: The Second Police Militarization Period
Further militarization took place during the Civil Rights Era. It was widely believed that the adoption of military weapons by the LAPD was a key factor in ending the Watts Riots. This spurred police departments everywhere to arm police with military battlefield weapons. A military mindset was also adopted as people from civil rights activists to communists were looked at similarly to foreign enemies. Experiences with drug cartels, protests and civil unrest, and domestic terrorists fuelled further militarization through the next few decades.
In 1981, Congress passed the Military Cooperation With Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies Act. This Act allowed the US military to cooperate with domestic and international law enforcement agencies in counter-drug operations, civil disturbances, counter-terrorism, and other activities.
The 1033 Era: The Third Police Militarization Period
In 1997 Los Angeles experienced the North Hollywood Shootout. During this shootout, the first police to respond faced bank robbers better equipped than they were. The bank robbers were equipped with body armour and fully automatic weapons. Soon after, the US Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1997 which authorised and expanded the ability of American law enforcement agencies to receive excess military equipment.
Although police SWAT Teams (Special Weapons And Tactics) first appeared in the 1960’s, they experienced a significant expansion during the 1033 Era.
Simultaneous Trends
Civil Asset Forfeiture
In the 1980’s the US greatly expanded the use of Civil Asset Forfeiture. This effort was part of the War on Drugs. Cartels were more likely to be unbanked and use large amounts of cash. Large amounts of funds could also be obtained by seizing property such as homes, boats, etc.
Exponential Growth In The Number Of Laws
During the last several decades, the number of federal laws has increased drastically. When federal laws were first published together in 1927, it was published in a single volume. By the 1980’s, it took over 50 volumes and over 23,000 pages. These numbers are just the laws. They do not include the innumerable provisions of case law, rules, or regulations.
Nearly 20 years ago Ronald Gainer, a Justice Department official, was tasked with trying to determine the number of federal laws. When he was unsuccessful, he said the following:
“You will have died and [been] resurrected three times, and still not have an answer to this question.”
Ronald Gainer
The more laws there are, the more opportunities one has to break the law and become a criminal. Many so-called “crimes” are victimless. Although the US legal system is supposed to be based on the principle of being innocent until guilty, law enforcement more often seems to have the perspective that everyone is guilty of something. With innumerable laws, technically, they’re probably right.
Terminology
Until the 1960’s the term “Peace Officer” was more commonly used. Since then, it has been supplanted by the terms “Police Officer” and “Law Enforcement Officer or “LEO”. Now, the term peace officer is rarely seen, heard, or used except in legalese.
Word choice matters. Words have meaning. A peace officer is charged with keeping the peace and supporting peaceful interaction between people. On the other hand, the origin of the word police, from the French and Latin before that, is in civil administration and the government. Beyond that, Law Enforcement Officer says they support laws through force. One might as well take a cue from The Princess Bride and call them the Law Brute Squad. When “force” is a part of the name, is it any wonder force is how they accomplish their work?
The militarization of law enforcement has been a gradual process over the course of more than a century. There have been times where change has accelerated. Events have often been an accelerator. Mindset and perspective regarding those events have also been key factors. Now that we know how we’ve gotten to this point, we can look at how to fix this police militarization mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.
Garrett Leeds is the founder of the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness Project
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