The Uvalde Massacre Has Exposed the Lies That Once Justified Police Militarization
For years, the ever-increasing militarization of US police forces has been cast by its defenders as an indispensable tool for dealing with large-scale violence and mass-casualty events. Since the Uvalde massacre last month, that rationale lies in tatters.
Law enforcement at the scene of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, May 24, 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar / Getty Images)
In November 2014, as Americans watched heavily armed and armored police bear down with tanks on unarmed, mostly black protesters in Ferguson, the House held a hearing on the militarization of US law enforcement. Congress was starting to rethink the 1033 program that led police officers of the small city on the outskirts of St Louis to suddenly look like invading troops, while law enforcement representatives insisted on the need to keep that military equipment flowing.
“A principal function of the police is to respond to the public safety threats that face our communities,” said Jim Bueermann, president of the Police Foundation. “Adequate and updated equipment is a necessity to keep both officers and our citizens safe. . . . I urge you to consider the program’s local public safety benefits.”
The executive director of another police association, the National Tactical Officers Association, explicitly cited the 1999 Columbine shooting as the reason the program had to continue.
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