The militarization of America’s police

Armed with battering rams and machine guns, paramilitary SWAT units are breaking into Americans' homes

SWAT
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty))

How heavily armed are the police?

Many small-town police departments now boast the same weaponry once wielded by U.S. military units in Afghanistan — including tanks with 360-degree rotating turrets, battering rams, and automatic weapons. Those weapons are today deployed against Americans suspected of crimes in their own homes. Every day, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams connected to local police conduct 124 paramilitary-style raids in the U.S., according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union. One of them recently drew national attention when a SWAT team in Atlanta burst into a private home and threw a live flash grenade into a 2-year-old's crib, severely injuring the toddler. Most raids by SWAT teams are conducted against suspected drug dealers, but they've also been deployed against a private poker game; a gay bar in Atlanta; a New Haven, Connecticut, bar suspected of serving minors; and even people suspected of credit card fraud. "Neighborhoods are not war zones," says the ACLU in its report, "and our police officers should not be treating us like wartime enemies."

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Frances Weaver is a senior editor at The Week magazine. Originally from the U.K., she has written for the Daily Telegraph, The Spectator and Standpoint magazine.