Comments on: Let’s demilitarize the regulatory agencies too

By: Klavan On The Culture » Instapundit on Militarized Police

Klavan On The Culture » Instapundit on Militarized Police — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 13:31:10 +0000

[…] there’s a strong temptation to use it, just because, well, it’s cool. (Federal regulatory agencies have succumbed to SWAT Fever […]

By: Peg Manning

Peg Manning — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 18:47:53 +0000

I noticed this trend first decades ago when the DoD health care fraud investigators started showing up with guns. For audit meetings. It turns out that government employees who qualify as law enforcement officers get a bump in pay and pension, at least in the federal government and in California state government. So it’s not just the worrisome psychological profiles of the people who tend to go into these fields; it’s government waste as well.

By: Boblipton

Boblipton — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 20:28:27 +0000

Only, Acad, if they take the train.

Bob

By: Acad Ronin

Acad Ronin — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 16:36:08 +0000

Why does AMTRAK have a SWAT team? All their lines run through jurisdictions that have SWAT teams (cities, towns, and counties). Furthermore, if they deploy along the rail lines, it will take them longer to get where they are going than it would take the local police or sheriff’s department.

By: richard40

richard40 — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 15:46:25 +0000

The over militarization of law enforcement, especially of bureaucratic regulation enforcers, is indeed a serious problem, that should be addressed. I just wish they had chosen some other moment than Ferguson to bring it up. The problem is at Ferguson, where you have peaceful demonstrators, but you also have even more unruly mobs looting and attacking police, law enforced needs to be militarized to some extent to cow the unruly mobs. So at the moment, I think they are taking a real concern, misuse of military assets by law enforcement, and potentially losing support for that concern by misapplying it to a situation, responding to unruly mobs and looters, where the concern should not apply.

By: Rick Caird

Rick Caird — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 11:19:21 +0000

I am not an Alan Grayson fan, but every once in a while, he does find an acorn. The fundamental problem with the militarization of the police is if you have the military equipment, every problem comes to require the use of that equipment. A lot of these SWAT team raids are more of a training effort than a necessity. So, we terrorize citizens for training purposes. Lovely.

By: markm

markm — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 02:51:00 +0000

Why does the USDA need submachine guns? Perhaps they are concerned about this threat:

By: SayUncle » I have a better idea

SayUncle » I have a better idea — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:28:53 +0000

[…] Good start. But let’s demilitarize any agency that is not the military. […]

By: Let’s demilitarize the regulatory agencies too | A Moral Outrage

Let’s demilitarize the regulatory agencies too | A Moral Outrage — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:12:54 +0000

[…] Overlawyered […]

By: Boblipton

Boblipton — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 22:56:13 +0000

To deal with murderous CPAs.

Bob