Police militarization is a legacy of cold war paranoia

Since the 1960s, police have often seen social movements as threats to national security

Ferguson police
(Image credit: (Scott Olson/Getty Images))

The police who faced protesters in Ferguson, Missouri looked more like soldiers than officers of the peace. In August, citizens squared off with a camouflage-clad police force armed with tear gas and grenade launchers, armored tactical vehicles and rifles with long-range scopes. Since then, government officials and the media have blamed police militarization on a U.S. Department of Defense program, begun in 1997, that provides police with free surplus military gear. But the roots of militarized policing are much older.

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