Essay On Police Militarization

For years, the police force has been jeopardizing the rights of human beings while receiving no repercussions. The government’s and the police’s tolerance to reoccurring acts of horror continues to occur, causing police brutality to be one of the most serious human rights abuses in the United States today. Standards for what constitutes brutality vary widely, though, two major international human rights treaties, to which the United States is a party, explicitly prohibit police abuse. The International Covenant on Civil and Political rights and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, protect the right of life and prohibit torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment (Collins 9). The
The militarization of the police has taken place amid a striking upsurge of protests over police brutality and, in particular, the endless killing of young black men (Engelhardt). The government is equipping local police with weapons powerful enough to conquer a small country and the use of armed SWAT team’s use of these weapons rose by fifteen thousand percent in the last two decades (Kristian). Christian Science Monitor reports that the United States police officers shoot approximately one thousand citizens per year in the line of duty and unjustifiable shootings make up about forty percent (Lithwick). The U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials specifies standards on recruitment, training, and the use of force. The statute calls for proportionality in the amount of force used when required, and for governments to ensure that “arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials are punished as a criminal offence under their law” (Collins 9). Ultimately, no radical need for such powerful weapons has developed to justify the militaristic tendencies of the police