Militarized Police Departments: Part 2

Back in 2011, I nominated militarized police departments as a Bully of The Year Nominee.  I spoke of how our police and sheriff departments are becoming occupying armies instead of governmental agencies that are supposed to "protect and serve".  Since that posting, we have seen an increase in the frequency and even the severity of the use of military style tactics and weapons in seemingly every day police operations.

Now comes a puff peace from Yahoo touting the "hottest new police car", the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle.  That's right.  Thanks to a surplus of heavy military vehicles specifically designed to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (at the cost of over $800 thousand each), our local police and sheriff departments will be able to receive their very own MRAP (or maybe more than one) to storm the local cock fight.

Do our police and sheriff departments truly require such heavy military vehicles and weapons?  In my view, they have already come up with excuses to explain their "need": The possibility of mass shootings.

From The Murfreesboro Post:

Concluding his comments just prior to the vote on the matter, Rainwater threw the council and audience a curve when he suddenly protested the Murfreesboro Police Department's recent acquisition of an armored personnel carrier with a grant for military surplus.

"I am going to say the most important thing I have ever said to the City Council," he said. "Give the MRAP back."

City councilmen and audience members alike looked to each other in bewilderment, prompting Mayor Tommy Bragg to explain that "MRAP" is simply an acronym for a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle.

Councilman Toby Gilley then explained that the Police Department had acquired the vehicle at no cost in order to employ it as a tool in "threats from armed gunmen."

These MRAPs will do nothing to prevent or even stop the next Columbine or Sandy Hook shooting spree.  All they will do is tear up our already fragile infrastructure and intimidate the populace at large.  And maybe the latter is what is truly behind the desire to have these military vehicles used by our police and sheriff departments.  I am sure Sheriff Arpaio is wanting to get his hands on a few.

It Gets Better, But What About Now?

On April 15^th, 2012, 14 year old Kenneth Weishuhn committed suicide.  Two weeks before taking his life, Kenneth took the bold step of telling his friends that he was gay*.  Instead of finding acceptance he found ridicule, hate and threats.  It is great to tell our gay youth that “it gets better”, but what about now?

Being ridiculed, hated and threatened isn’t just a phenomenon of gay youth.  It’s a phenomenon of anyone who is seen as “other” and it needs to stop.  Teachers and administrators need to stop treating bullying as “boys will be boys” bullshit and start treating it like the crime against society that it is.  Platitudes need to be backed up by swift and strong action.

Columbine should have been our nation’s wakeup call about bullying.  Instead of focusing on the bullying Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold received and how it was ignored by school administrators, we focused on the fact that they were both “others”, guns and violent video games.  It was an opportunity lost by those of all political stripes to save lives.

Part of stopping the bullying will require our national political discourse to change.  Our political leaders need to stop using dog-whistle terms to invoke the specter of the “other”.  When kids see adults ridiculing, hating and threatening others, they think nothing is wrong in doing so as well.  This acceptance of bullying puts lives at risk.

We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines and allow bullying to continue.  In our homes parents need to let their kids know in no uncertain terms that bullying is unacceptable.  In our schools teachers and administrators can longer look the other way when bullying occurs.  They must stamp it out with a vengeance.  In our legislatures and Halls of Congress, lawmakers must remember that fear is not an acceptable means of uniting the nation, especially when it is fear of the “other”.

Gay, straight, black, brown, white, male, female, young, old, rich or poor, we all have the right to live without intimidation and bullying.  Now is the time to eliminate bullying as an acceptable form of discourse.  Now is the time to protect the Kenneth Weishuhns of our nation.  Are you listening Mr. President and Mr. Romney?

*The use of the term “gay” is meant to encapsulate that entire GLBT community and not just gay males.