Cool map by the NYT as to the Militarization of the Police - Granite Grok

Cool map by the NYT as to the Militarization of the Police

The New York Times has a cool map as to where “excess Military Equipment” has gone from the US Military to counties around the nation: Militarization of the Police

Military Equipment across the nationGiven the images from Ferguson, MO that have gone up all over the blogosphere (yeah, I need to post up the ones I’ve bookmarked) during the rioting there, it is causing a national question to be asked: How militarized should our police forces really be”?  Have police forces gone overboard in the “it’s free so I gotta get mine – even if I’ll never use it”?  Do citizens, when seeing these images, think “this is my PEACE Officer or is this a junior version of Special Forces”?  The Youngest, upon glancing at some of the news clips, said “Heck, even *I* didn’t carry that amount of stuff while in Afghanistan”.

Do we, as a nation or even locally, need (or want) a police force or one that is transformed, permanently, into paramilitary units?  There is a difference – a big difference, not least of which is “Are the police one of us, or do they see us as an enemy to be contained, controlled, or crushed?

  • Belknap County:  60 Assault Rifles, 30 pistols, 2 grenade launchers

  • Carroll County:  38 Assault Rifles, 6 pistols
  • Cheshire County:  20 Assault Rifles
  • Coos County:  2 Assault Rifles, 8 night vision pieces
  • Grafton County: 70 Assault Rifles, 32 night vision pieces
  • Hillsborough County:  202 Assault Rifles, 4 night vision pieces
  • Merrimack County:  132 Assault Rifles, 38 night vision pieces, 34 body armor pieces
  • Rockingham County:  160 Assault Rifles, 62 night vision pieces
  • Strafford County:  76 Assault Rifles, 6 night vision pieces
  • Sullivan County:  32 Assault Rifles

What the heck does Belknap County need with Grenade Launchers for???

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