Horizon Information Portal

e-branch

Home

My Account/Renew Loans

Find Magazine Articles & more

Rise of the warrior cop : the militarization of America's police forces / Radley Balko.

by Balko, Radley.

View full image

PublicAffairs, 2014.

363.20973 B186r

Police -- Special weapons and tactics units -- United States.

Police -- United States.

Militarization of police -- United States.

9781610394574 (pbk.)

xvi, 382 pages ; 21 cm.

"Hardcover first published in 2013 ... by PublicAffairs"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-368) and index.

From Rome to writs -- Soldiers in the streets -- A quick history of cops in America -- The 1960s: from root causes to brute force -- The 1970s: pinch and retreat -- The 1980s: us and them -- The 1990s: it's all about the numbers -- The 2000s: a whole new war -- Reform.

"Today's armored-up policemen are a far cry from the constables of early America. The unrest of the 1960s brought about the invention of the SWAT unit, which in turn led to the debut of military tactics in the ranks of police officers. Nixon's War on Drugs, Reagan's War on Poverty, Clinton's COPS program, the post-9/11 security state under Bush and Obama: by degrees, each of these innovations expanded and empowered police forces, always at the expense of civil liberties. And these are just four among a slew of reckless programs. How politicians' ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. Over a generation, a creeping battlefield mentality has isolated and alienated American police officers and put them on a collision course with the values of a free society. Radley Balko is an investigative journalist"--Provided by publisher.

Horizon Information Portal 3.24_8902M

© 2001-2013 SirsiDynix All rights reserved.

Horizon Information Portal