(As originally run in the Casper Star Tribune)
Goshen County Wyoming has a grenade launcher. Converse
County has four armored vehicles and Albany County has one. Sweetwater County
has sixty assault rifles and Fremont County has twenty nine. Natrona County has four armored vehicles and
up to sixty assault rifles; Laramie County has an armored vehicle, assault
rifles, flak vests and night vision goggles. Washakie, Big Horn and Hot Springs
Joint Tactical Emergency Response Team acquired an armored vehicle last year.
The shooting of an unarmed teen in Ferguson, Illinois
brought the reality of the militarization of local police to the forefront of
the nightly news and front pages of our newspapers. The ACLU has been investigating this issue, and
in June of this year, published the report War
Comes Home: – The Excessive Militarization of American Police.
In this report the ACLU outlines how, with the encouragement
of Department of Defense, Department of Justice and Homeland Security, local
policing has morphed from the philosophy of serve and protect to military-style
SWAT teams, assault weapons and armored vehicles used to police local citizens
and communities.
As a result of the drug war, the erosion of Fourth Amendment
rights and the militarization of the police, sixty-two percent of drug warrants
and searches for personal drugs were served by SWAT teams. In these raids families with children were
screamed at, searched and terrorized in an unnecessary manner. Innocent animals
and citizens have been wounded and even killed in these raids. In many cases there
was absolutely no need for the level of aggression used to serve a warrant or
search a home for personal use drugs. SWAT teams use assault weapons, battering
rams, and military flash bang grenades that can temporarily blind and deafen
citizens.
The origin of military policing came from Los Angeles in the
1960’s. SWAT teams were patterned after the Marine Special Forces and trained
to deal with hostage situations, barricades or active shooter emergencies. Far from the serve and protect approach, military
training turns the policing culture to a warrior mentality that sees citizens
as enemies. We have gone from Andy of
Mayberry to Robocop in a few generations.
While no one wants to endanger law enforcement in the line
of duty, we need to ensure that military tactics and weapons are used only in
appropriate emergency situations. We must have a public discussion about
standards, reporting and transparency to protect the citizenry from the abuse
of these weapons and tactics.
Law enforcement must be done in a way that protects both our
safety and our rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It sends the wrong
message when our neighborhood cop is no longer a keeper of the peace, but
appears like a soldier going to battle.
Linda Burt
Executive Director, ACLU of Wyoming
