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| Obama's Ferguson response will leave assault rifles and vehicles of war on American streets | Obama's Ferguson response will leave assault rifles and vehicles of war on American streets |
| (4 months later) | |
| On Monday, one week after the American criminal justice system failed Michael Brown, US attorney general Eric Holder and President Obama had eloquent and powerful words for those in Ferguson and across the country who have been protesting the killing of another unarmed black teenager by a white cop, along with the militarization of this country’s local police forces. Yet on the same day, with the White House grabbing the opportunity to put forth a substantive plan for changing the relationship between law enforcement and the people it is sworn to protect, the Obama administration indicated that hardly anything might change at all. | On Monday, one week after the American criminal justice system failed Michael Brown, US attorney general Eric Holder and President Obama had eloquent and powerful words for those in Ferguson and across the country who have been protesting the killing of another unarmed black teenager by a white cop, along with the militarization of this country’s local police forces. Yet on the same day, with the White House grabbing the opportunity to put forth a substantive plan for changing the relationship between law enforcement and the people it is sworn to protect, the Obama administration indicated that hardly anything might change at all. |
| Holder, in a speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, warned that if distrust between police and American citizens doesn’t change, it could “threaten the entire nation”. And Obama, in Washington, tried to assuade his many critics by saying, “There have been commissions before, there have been task forces, there have been conversations – and nothing happens. What I try to describe to people is why this time will be different.” | Holder, in a speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, warned that if distrust between police and American citizens doesn’t change, it could “threaten the entire nation”. And Obama, in Washington, tried to assuade his many critics by saying, “There have been commissions before, there have been task forces, there have been conversations – and nothing happens. What I try to describe to people is why this time will be different.” |
| Why, then, as the White House finally released its report on the militarization of police, did it largely defend the variety of federal programs that funnel billions of dollars of weaponry and high-tech surveillance gear to local police every year? The report offered four milquetoast recommendations that included giving local police more money for body cameras and sensitivity training, while leaving every program – including the controversial Defense Department initiative known as 1033 that has sent assault rifles and armored mine-resistant vehicles to local cops – almost completely intact. | Why, then, as the White House finally released its report on the militarization of police, did it largely defend the variety of federal programs that funnel billions of dollars of weaponry and high-tech surveillance gear to local police every year? The report offered four milquetoast recommendations that included giving local police more money for body cameras and sensitivity training, while leaving every program – including the controversial Defense Department initiative known as 1033 that has sent assault rifles and armored mine-resistant vehicles to local cops – almost completely intact. |
| As I’ve written before, no matter where you come down on body-cams, there are serious limitations to how they will work. And the funding for the cameras and training depends on Congress, which is so dysfunctional, it can’t even pass bills they all agree on. Buzzfeed reported last week, the few representatives in Congress who made any noise about defunding the paramilitary cops on Main Street have been blitzed by police agency lobbyists, or they’ve dropped any serious plans to curtail or stop the 1033 program via new legislation – or else barely said a peep about the issue since the first few days after the Ferguson tragedy and following protests. | As I’ve written before, no matter where you come down on body-cams, there are serious limitations to how they will work. And the funding for the cameras and training depends on Congress, which is so dysfunctional, it can’t even pass bills they all agree on. Buzzfeed reported last week, the few representatives in Congress who made any noise about defunding the paramilitary cops on Main Street have been blitzed by police agency lobbyists, or they’ve dropped any serious plans to curtail or stop the 1033 program via new legislation – or else barely said a peep about the issue since the first few days after the Ferguson tragedy and following protests. |
| Obama said he wants to avoid building a “militarized culture” in police departments, yet his White House report claims all the militarization programs are “valuable” to law enforcement, without going into any detail of where that value has actually been shown. For example, when was the last time a local police officer drove over a fucking mine? Why would neighborhood cops ever need Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) that were meant to protect soldiers against IEDs in Iraq? The White House’s four months of “research” into federal funding simply does not venture to explain. Nor does it explain any use for any of the Pentagon’s weaponry now in the hands of our local police. | Obama said he wants to avoid building a “militarized culture” in police departments, yet his White House report claims all the militarization programs are “valuable” to law enforcement, without going into any detail of where that value has actually been shown. For example, when was the last time a local police officer drove over a fucking mine? Why would neighborhood cops ever need Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) that were meant to protect soldiers against IEDs in Iraq? The White House’s four months of “research” into federal funding simply does not venture to explain. Nor does it explain any use for any of the Pentagon’s weaponry now in the hands of our local police. |
| The 19-page report spends about two pages on proposed recommendations for improving community policing and purchasing body-cams for police, and then 10 pages describing how the various federal funding programs to local police actually work – essentially defending the supposed extensive “oversight” mechanisms in place currently. The programs reviewed in the report includes scandalous “civil forfeiture” programs, which have allowed police to seize literally more than a billion dollars from citizens over the past decade – citizens who have never been charged with a crime. Civil forfeiture has recently been featured in a blistering Washington Post series and on John Oliver’s show for its deeply unfair practices, yet the White House report doesn’t offer anything about its various problems – just that it’s another valuable program for cops to exploit. | The 19-page report spends about two pages on proposed recommendations for improving community policing and purchasing body-cams for police, and then 10 pages describing how the various federal funding programs to local police actually work – essentially defending the supposed extensive “oversight” mechanisms in place currently. The programs reviewed in the report includes scandalous “civil forfeiture” programs, which have allowed police to seize literally more than a billion dollars from citizens over the past decade – citizens who have never been charged with a crime. Civil forfeiture has recently been featured in a blistering Washington Post series and on John Oliver’s show for its deeply unfair practices, yet the White House report doesn’t offer anything about its various problems – just that it’s another valuable program for cops to exploit. |
| Obama says he’ll issue an executive order within four months in light of this research – his administration’s official response to the unfolding history in Ferguson – but how much research did the White House actually do beyond a cursory examination of various departmental rules? The report states that “[t]he 1033 Program prohibits the transfer of property whose predominant purpose is combat operations” – including “grenade launchers” – yet according to news reports, the LAPD got grenade launchers from the program, as did the cops in Springfield, Massachusetts. As the New York Daily News reported this summer, grenade launchers have “been documented as stockpiled among several agencies in Virginia and Utah” as well. | Obama says he’ll issue an executive order within four months in light of this research – his administration’s official response to the unfolding history in Ferguson – but how much research did the White House actually do beyond a cursory examination of various departmental rules? The report states that “[t]he 1033 Program prohibits the transfer of property whose predominant purpose is combat operations” – including “grenade launchers” – yet according to news reports, the LAPD got grenade launchers from the program, as did the cops in Springfield, Massachusetts. As the New York Daily News reported this summer, grenade launchers have “been documented as stockpiled among several agencies in Virginia and Utah” as well. |
| Four months of research into the bullets and tanks that took over Ferguson, and the White House’s report is basically a survey of agency regulations that offered virtually no analysis of the problem – or even really a solution. | Four months of research into the bullets and tanks that took over Ferguson, and the White House’s report is basically a survey of agency regulations that offered virtually no analysis of the problem – or even really a solution. |
| Cops will continue to get carried away with the weapons of war, so long as the Pentagon’s 1033 program is in place. | Cops will continue to get carried away with the weapons of war, so long as the Pentagon’s 1033 program is in place. |
| White House lists military equipment loaned to local cops: 92,442 small arms, 44,275 night vision devices, 5,235 humvees and 616 aircraft. | White House lists military equipment loaned to local cops: 92,442 small arms, 44,275 night vision devices, 5,235 humvees and 616 aircraft. |
| It will still be virtually impossible to indict a cop through a grand jury, while remaining virtually impossible for an ordinary citizen to escape indictment from the same, if there’s not any substantive criminal justice reform. | It will still be virtually impossible to indict a cop through a grand jury, while remaining virtually impossible for an ordinary citizen to escape indictment from the same, if there’s not any substantive criminal justice reform. |
| Grand jury documents show that initial police procedures following Michael Brown shooting were far from thorough http://t.co/v06zfDHF8S | |
| And corrupt prosecutors will stay in their jobs, as long as there are no mechanisms to hold them accountable. | And corrupt prosecutors will stay in their jobs, as long as there are no mechanisms to hold them accountable. |
| Grand juries not resulting in indictments: Police Officers: 80 of 81 Civilians: 11 of 162,000 #Ferguson http://t.co/rmHtPlNlun | |
| Eric Holder invoked Martin Luther King Jr in saying that he will soon announce a plan that could “help end racial profiling”. Barack Obama committed “not to solve every problem, not to tear down every barrier of mistrust that may exist, but to make things better”. Great. They are in a position to do it. But so far, they’re not. So far, Washington’s answer to Ferguson is just window-dressing. | Eric Holder invoked Martin Luther King Jr in saying that he will soon announce a plan that could “help end racial profiling”. Barack Obama committed “not to solve every problem, not to tear down every barrier of mistrust that may exist, but to make things better”. Great. They are in a position to do it. But so far, they’re not. So far, Washington’s answer to Ferguson is just window-dressing. |
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