1.What is the history of policing and militarization within the borders of the US? It isn’t pretty. (@ProfPaulPoast like tweet thread)
2. Policing in the U.S. emerged out of racism with origins from slave patrols and from the growth of capitalism in the early 19th century, as well as due to the “Native American threats” See: hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?is…; products.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorpor…
;mheducation.com/highered/produ…
;mheducation.com/highered/produ…
3. The end of the US Civil War and reconstruction brought expansions in securitization with the growth of the U.S. Marshals and the post office. Yes, the post office had an investigative branch used for surveillance.
Read this by Jonathan Obert:
cambridge.org/core/books/six…
Read this by Jonathan Obert:
cambridge.org/core/books/six…
4. In 1870, the Department of Justice was created, but it had no investigators. In 1908 the Department of Justice hired 10 former Secret Service employees to join an expanded Office of the Chief Examiner. This became the precedent to the FBI. See: washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…)
5. The largest expansion of policing was in the 1960s. LBJ created created the Law Enforcement Assistant Administration (LEAA) which was the first federal agency created to streamline federal funding, equipment, and technology, directly to state and local enforcement agencies
6.The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams were developed in the US in response to the failure of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to minimize the violence during the Watts riots in 1965.
See: publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/radley-…
See: publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/radley-…
7. SWAT was put to its first test raiding the "insurgent group": The Black Panther’s HQ in 1969.
8. Militarization increased under the Clinton administration. The 1997 1033 Program “granted permanent authority to the Secretary of Defense to transfer defense material to federal and state agencies for use in law enforcement” See: fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec…
9.The Obama administration banned this program (npr.org/sections/thetw…) but Trump reversed this in 2017 (nytimes.com/2017/08/28/us/…)
10. So, there is a history or racism and police militarization in the U.S. But, what about police reform?
11. Obama created the a task force on 21st century policing (cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/…) It recommended a variety of changes to the way law enforcement agencies trained their officers.
12. The main policy recommendation for decreasing police abuse was: de-escalation training. But, the fed gov can't tell local police departments what to do. Only state governments can mandate training, but fewer than half require de-escalation training. (revealnews.org/episodes/what-…)
13. Almost every state has a Peace Officers Standards and Training Board, or POST Board in charge of police training. Most POST boards are held by current of former law enforcement officials. Who sits on them is determined by local and state elected officials.
14. What about police oversight boards? The earliest attempts at civilian oversight was in the early 1900s, but they failed b/c of no resources or power. The civil rights movement brought civilian oversight into the public eye again in the1960s, this time with some success.
15.The 1990s saw the growth of them as a response to the Rodney King beatings. There were reportedly less than 40 civilian oversight agencies in 1990, and over 100 by 2001, and over 200 in 2016. (pbs.org/wgbh/frontline…) But, there is variation in their funding and mandate
16. What about the use of the US military for domestic purposes? Two acts have been cited in the news.
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 is often cited, but this actually is a weak instrument. See the great primer by @lindsaypcohn () The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 has racist origins; it was passed to reduce the enforcement of civil rights in the South.
The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a United States federal law empowers the president of the United States to deploy military troops within the United States in particular circumstances, such as to suppress civil disorder, insurrection and rebellion.
It also has racist origins. It was a response to the Haitian slave rebellion. () It has been used before. See (crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/…)
So what can be done? 1) Policing has origins in racism and police power has been growing over time. 2) There is a strong lobby against police reform. 3) Most of the reform must be at the local and state level. Local elections matter.
On police research around the world, see:
