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Trump rescinds Obama-imposed limits on the military transferring surplus equipment to police departments

The militarization of the police is back on



It was trendy not long ago, and perhaps will still be trendy for some people, to express concern over the "militarization of the police." Maybe it's OK for cops to have sidearms and billy clubs, but not the type of equipment the military uses to win wars. Because if they had that equipment, so goes the thinking of leftists and paranoid libertarians, they will use it to wage war on us! You will get no such sentiment from this column. Especially given the reality we see today of politically inspired riots - with police on the receiving end of bottle rockets and smoke bombs - I say equip the police with everything you can possibly give them.

Barack Obama disagreed, and banned the Pentagon from transferring surplus military equipment to police departments

Barack Obama disagreed, and banned the Pentagon from transferring surplus military equipment to police departments. The Trump Administration is getting ready to reverse that order:
After a review, Obama decided to bar the military from transferring certain types of equipment to police, including tracked armored vehicles, armed aircraft or vehicles of any kind, .50-caliber firearms and ammunition, grenade launchers, bayonets and camouflage uniforms. Obama also required police agencies to justify their need when seeking items like helicopters and aircraft, wheeled armored vehicles, unmanned drone aircraft, riot helmets and pyrotechnics like “flash-bangs.” USA Today reported on Sunday that the U.S. government may soon lift the ban. “These restrictions that had been imposed went too far,” Sessions told a meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police in Nashville on Monday. “We will not put superficial concerns above public safety. We will do our best to get you what you need.” It was not immediately clear how far Trump’s executive order would go in rescinding Obama’s restrictions, which barred some items not commonly used by police.

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But Sessions said “good equipment saves lives” and the executive order Trump plans to sign would “ensure that you can get the life-saving gear you need to do your job.” Sessions said one sheriff had told him the restrictions had led the Defense Department to make his office return an armored vehicle that could been helpful if they had to confront someone involved in a shooting rampage.

Obama's anti-police attitudes and policies were simply astonishing

Obama's anti-police attitudes and policies were simply astonishing. I suppose he developed these attitudes growing up on the south side of Chicago, and had them cemented during his rise as a left-wing activist. There are plenty of people on the street who have been sold the idea that police are your enemies, and that they're racist thugs who are just out to hurt you whenever they can find an excuse to do so. To that claim, we can answer with Ferguson, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Baltimore, Phoenix, Los Angeles and so many other recent or somewhat recent examples. Mobs rise up and perpetrate violence, and we expect police to get control of the situation, but often are unwilling to give them the equipment they need to do so effectively and safely. When mobs challenge the police, we don't want it to be a "fair fight." We want the police to have such an overwhelming advantage that the mobs give up, or pay a very severe price for refusing to do so.

As long as Antifa and Black Lives Matter are going to foment violence, police need all the equipment they can get

For those of you concerned about your civil liberties in the face of militarized police, I say stay away from situations that give rise to riots, and if you are confronted by police officers, do what they tell you to do. If they still use force on you in the midst of a riot, however, don't blame the police. Blame the rioters. They're the ones who created the chaos that's forcing police officers to make the best judgments they can in untenable situations. As long as Antifa and Black Lives Matter are going to foment violence, police need all the equipment they can get. As long as white supremacists are going to provoke violence, police need everything they can possibily have at their disposal. And as long as Colin Kaepernick and the news media are going to spread the slander that police are racist thugs looking to kill black people for sport, the police will be targets. They need protection in every conceivable form. This may not be the "legislative victory" the political press will tell you Trump needs, but it's an important and excellent policy decision, and it's not only police who should thank him for it. It's everyone who cares about living in a safe society.


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Dan Calabrese -- Bio and Archives

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

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