I have a bad taste in my mouth. Yesterday I watched my Occupy Olympia camp get evicted by marching troopers in riot gear. No one was arrested, No one was pepper sprayed. Great violence was done to the fabric of our democracy. Our police have become soldiers.
King 5 News- Olympia Occupy Eviction
Here is my letter to the editor submitted to the Olympian.
It's sad to see how our police have become so militarized in clearing the Occupy camp at Heritage Park. I saw double rows of marching officers in full riot gear with shielded helmets and covered faces holding space age pepper spray rifles. I saw Star Wars stormtroopers on the streets of Olympia. All that expensive shiny new homeland security equipment was on display at a time when our schools and government services are forced to make drastic cuts. This mighty show of force was summoned to what end? A massive armored fist was raised to terminate a non violent political protest. The disproportionate level of force shown by this police response was an act of political intimidation on our right to free speech.
We are on the slippery slope of becoming a police state.
When give our police military toys and military training, it is not unreasonable to anticipate that state sanctioned military violence against peaceful citizens is just around the corner.
Policeman deal with citizens while soldiers take out the enemy.
The War on Terror mindset does not belong on the streets of Olympia in a domestic political confrontation. Good police work involves building relationships and understandings.
Our police need to realize that the Occupy protester is not an "enemy", but a neighbor and a citizen that the police will need to engage with up the road.
It’s ironic that the Occupy movement is fighting to save the very same unions, pensions, standard of living, health care benefits, and educational opportunities that those police officers in riot gear enjoy.
How the war on terror has militarized the police is evident when crowd control tactics and equipment is on display.
The most serious consequence of the rapid militarization of American police forces, however, is the subtle evolution in the mentality of the "men in blue" from "peace officer" to soldier. This development is absolutely critical and represents a fundamental change in the nature of law enforcement. The primary mission of a police officer traditionally has been to "keep the peace." Those whom an officer suspects to have committed a crime are treated as just that - suspects. Police officers are expected, under the rule of law, to protect the civil liberties of all citizens, even the "bad guys." For domestic law enforcement, a suspect in custody remains innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, police officers operate among a largely friendly population and have traditionally been trained to solve problems using a complex legal system; the deployment of lethal violence is an absolute last resort.
Soldiers, by contrast, are trained to identify people they encounter as belonging to one of two groups -- the enemy and the non-enemy -- and they often reach this decision while surrounded by a population that considers the soldier an occupying force. Once this identification is made, a soldier's mission is stark and simple: kill the enemy, "try" not to kill the non-enemy. Indeed, the Soldier's Creed declares, "I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat." This is a far cry from the peace officer's creed that expects its adherents "to protect and serve."
It is critical that we raise awareness in our communities how our police officers are morphing into soldiers and citizens engaged in free speech become an enemy.