There's an article up on Huffington Post that everyone should read. It is a frontline view on the militarization of local police forces--increasingly armed by defense industry manufacturers--as well as a blueprint for disrupting that militarization through local political pressure.
I've seen the militarization of local police in my own community. A friendly police officer proudly showed me the hardware he had in his trunk--a military assault rifle and armor--in a town of 7000 people. You know, just in case. This militarization is being driven by a defense industry that sees huge dollar signs in arming local police forces as if they're combat troops. The result is increased aggression, the likes of which we are seeing in the response to Occupy Wall Street.
Many towns have purchased vehicles like the Bearcat, or obtained tanks or armored vehicles from the Pentagon, saying they need to be prepared for terror attacks or school shootings.... [But,] since terror attacks and school shootings are rare, police agencies tend to use their armored vehicles for more mundane police work, like serving drug warrants.
Follow me down the rabbit hole for a surreal look at the how are cops are being made into soldiers.
A local activist has taken on this trend in Keene, New Hampshire, by publicizing the local City Council's plan to buy an armored military vehicle, the Bearcat, from the Pentagon, and driving a petition among local residents to pressure the City Council to abandon the plan. His efforts, and the response from the vehicle manufacturer are a view into the battles we should be fighting, in place of battles like Operation Hilarity.
Resistance began with Mike Clark, a 27-year-old handyman. Clark, who said he's had a couple encounters with Keene police and currently faces a charge of criminal mischief, read about the Homeland Security grant in the newspaper. "The police are already pretty brutal," Clark said, claiming he was roughed up in both his encounters with local police. "The last thing they need is this big piece of military equipment to make them think they're soldiers."
He collected 500 local resident signatures on a petition opposing the vehicle, and 100 people showed up at the next City Council meeting to voice opposition.
The response of the City Council, as well as the response of the defense supplier that is selling the Bearcat, reads like the script for a Disney film of good vs. evil. The defense contractor, Pittsburgh-based Lenco, sees billions of dollars in arming local police forces, but local municipalities have no money. Solution: lobby the pentagon to spend taxpayer money on grants they can hand out to local police to buy military hardware in the name of homeland security. Local governments grasp at a shiny new toy dangled in front of them, and look, it's FREE! The police are excited to dress up and play soldier, but darn, there's no war on main street. No problem, we'll use our new tank to serve a drug warrant! Wee!
Jim Massery, the government sales manager for Lenco comes straight from central casting.
Massery said Keene's anti-Bearcat citizens deliberately mischaracterize how the vehicle would be used, and pointed to incidents he said have saved police officers' lives. "When you see some Palestinian terrorist causing problems in Jerusalem, what do you usually see next? You see a tank with a cannon show up outside the guy's house, and the tank blows the house to smithereens. When a Lenco Bearcat shows up at a crime scene where a suicidal killer is holding hostages, it doesn't show up with a cannon. It shows up with a negotiator. Our trucks save lives. They save police lives. And I can't help but think that the people who are trying to stop this just don't think police officers' lives are worth saving.... These people are crazy," Massery said. "They hate cops. They hate the government. They remind me of the Jehovah's Witnesses who take on the Red Cross. Why is anyone listening to them?""
Right. It's all just about protecting police lives, which opponents of militarization obviously don't care about. Check out Lenco's promotional video of the bearcat.
"That video is totally irrelevant," Massery said. "We used some Hollywood effects and slick marketing to promote our product. So what?"
Totally irrelevant. So irrelevant that Lenco has blocked City Council's from showing the video and took it off their web site. They're obviously savvy enough to know how to position and promote militarization, and Massery wants you to know resistance is futile.
Massery predicted opposition from Keene residents will ultimately be in vain. "We have Bearcats in 90 percent of the 100 or so largest cities in America," Massery said. "This is going to happen. It has already happened. To resist now would be like saying police officers should scrap the Glock and go back to the revolver. It's a fantasy."
You can hear him struggling to stifle the mad laughter.
So. Is resistance futile? How can we operationalize resistance with the same efficiency that went into planning Operation Hilarity?
You can find Lenco online at http://www.swattrucks.com/.