Drugs & US Law Enforcement (2006-2017)

[bourbon]

Excerpts from Radley Balko's recently released Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces:

“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control - SWAT teams raiding poker games and trying to stop underage drinking? Overwhelming paramilitary force is on the rise

Militarized police overreach: “Oh, God, I thought they were going to shoot me next” - Local law enforcement's often using SWAT teams to do regular police work. The results are frightening -- and deadly

[Bill Moore]

http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...11&postcount=3

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Think of mass surveillance, of drones, secret courts, the militarisation of the police, detention without trial.

Hannah Arendt identified "the boomerang effect of imperialism on the homeland" in The Origins of Totalitarianism, but the academic Douglas Porch has used the history of Britain, France and America to demonstrate that all the rhetoric about bringing, respectively, Britishness, libert and freedom and democracy to the "little brown people who have no lights" is so much nonsense and that these brutal adventures almost never work and degrade the democracies that spawned them in the first place.

[gute]

This is my opinion and only opinion, but it is based on 21 years as a federal narcotics agent. The Drug War is a misnomer because one fights a war they want to win - I think. But, the fact that it has not been won or we are lsoing is not just the fault of law enforcement - society bears a lot of the blame too.

The militarization of law enforcement is a valid point and I believe law enforcement has lost sight of the fact they are here to serve and not rule. From my experience police departments and sheriff's offices are using SWAT teams or SWAT like teams to do all warrants because of the public bitching. Officers show up to knock on a door to ask someone questions and he throws rounds at em. The officers throw rounds back and an innocent bystander gets hurt or killed and now the public is asking why were these officers not "specialists"?

I'm amazed at the amount of crap that guys carry for simply narcotics search warrants. And the guns, everyone has an AR - who the hell is gonna be the "contact" person?

Don't get me I believe that law enforcement should always be in zone red - prepared and ready to react, but if guys want to run around with ARs, fatigues, etc then join the service.

[Bill Moore]

This is my opinion and only opinion, but it is based on 21 years as a federal narcotics agent. The Drug War is a misnomer because one fights a war they want to win - I think. But, the fact that it has not been won or we are lsoing is not just the fault of law enforcement - society bears a lot of the blame too.

The militarization of law enforcement is a valid point and I believe law enforcement has lost sight of the fact they are here to serve and not rule. From my experience police departments and sheriff's offices are using SWAT teams or SWAT like teams to do all warrants because of the public bitching. Officers show up to knock on a door to ask someone questions and he throws rounds at em. The officers throw rounds back and an innocent bystander gets hurt or killed and now the public is asking why were these officers not "specialists"?

I'm amazed at the amount of crap that guys carry for simply narcotics search warrants. And the guns, everyone has an AR - who the hell is gonna be the "contact" person?

Don't get me I believe that law enforcement should always be in zone red - prepared and ready to react, but if guys want to run around with ARs, fatigues, etc then join the service.

Gute, appreciate your insights based on your experience. I have always found it comical to see police officers switching into camouflage fatigues to conduct a raid. The value of doing so compared to putting on a vest that clearly identifies you as a police officer in an urban environment is questionable and maybe even counterproductive because of the mindset that may create. Great you look like a bush inside the crack house you just raided, and when you come outside and people see you look like a militarized police force reminiscent of Well's "1983." If you were doing a reconnaissance mission in the bush looking for signs of illicit activity that would make sense, and ideally the public for the most part wouldn't detect your activities.

I believe law enforcement has lost sight of the fact they are here to serve and not rule.

Agreed, and admittedly when you're dealing with a lot of low lifes on daily basis it must be extremely hard, but militarizing the force isn't the answer IMO. We just put more energy into the problem instead of diffusing it.

From my experience police departments and sheriff's offices are using SWAT teams or SWAT like teams to do all warrants because of the public bitching.

Is a possible solution to ensure all police are better trained, not just SWAT officers. Mandatory range time each month, mandatory stress drills, etc.? Never been a cop, but based on my limited reading I get the impression that many police never develop, or if they do develop, don't maintain their weapon skills or for that matter an acceptable level of fitness. Maybe I'm off base it seems like every cop should be able to subdue a suspect, issue a warrant, and shoot straight under stress, in addition to a thousand other skills they need to maintain.

The Drug War is a misnomer because one fights a war they want to win - I think. But, the fact that it has not been won or we are losing is not just the fault of law enforcement - society bears a lot of the blame too.

Is it even possible to wage a war on drugs? Assuming war is a form of political action, what political objective are we trying to achieve, or is just waging the war (being tough on drugs and crime) the objective? Looking at what the current strategy (ends, ways and means) seems to consist of a illicit drug free society (end), pursued by aggressive action against the pushers and sources both in the U.S. and globally (ways), using the legal system (means). No matter how tough the laws the reward versus risk ratio apparently weighs in favor of reward for several criminals moving the drugs. Our expensive focus on the sources (Columbia, Afghanistan, Mexico, SE Asia, etc.) is not only ineffective, but it harms our relationship with those nations, because we're increasing the level of violence in their society to get at the source while ignoring the demand on our end.

I'm not opposed to actions to help mitigate the flow, but cost versus gain needs to be assessed, and the cost can involve more than dollars. I'm all for rolling up the pushers to sell the stuff in our streets, but that only changes the sellers, the market adapts quickly. Joey will be still be able to find his next fix.

The real issue as you pointed out is societal issue (demand), and I haven't a clue how to address it, but we better figure it out and dedicate some resources to reduce our demand.

Definitely like to hear your counter arguments to my layman's observations on the problem.

Don't get me I believe that law enforcement should always be in zone red - prepared and ready to react

I was a taught a different color system, but regardless it serves the same purpose and strongly agree. This must be ingrained in training and reinforced by police leadership on a daily basis. I suspect the cops that work in the bad neighborhoods don't need a lot of reminders, it those that don't see that level of violence on a frequent basis that are probably most at risk.

[Dayuhan]

I have always found it comical to see police officers switching into camouflage fatigues to conduct a raid. The value of doing so compared to putting on a vest that clearly identifies you as a police officer in an urban environment is questionable and maybe even counterproductive because of the mindset that may create. Great you look like a bush inside the crack house you just raided, and when you come outside and people see you look like a militarized police force reminiscent of Well's "1983." If you were doing a reconnaissance mission in the bush looking for signs of illicit activity that would make sense, and ideally the public for the most part wouldn't detect your activities.

Blending in may not be the point.

Back in the days when Philippine Army "Scout Rangers" wore all black with black berets (maybe they still do, haven't seen any in a while, mostly we get the regular units up here) I once asked what the point of it was, as it didn't seem very useful for concealment. I was told quite frankly that it wasn't about concealment, it was about intimidation: the "men in black" image and the identification of an elite unit wasn't meant to hide anyone, it was meant to scare the antagonists.

[gute]

Is it even possible to wage a war on drugs? Assuming war is a form of political action, what political objective are we trying to achieve, or is just waging the war (being tough on drugs and crime) the objective? Looking at what the current strategy (ends, ways and means) seems to consist of a illicit drug free society (end), pursued by aggressive action against the pushers and sources both in the U.S. and globally (ways), using the legal system (means). No matter how tough the laws the reward versus risk ratio apparently weighs in favor of reward for several criminals moving the drugs. Our expensive focus on the sources (Columbia, Afghanistan, Mexico, SE Asia, etc.) is not only ineffective, but it harms our relationship with those nations, because we're increasing the level of violence in their society to get at the source while ignoring the demand on our end.

I'm not opposed to actions to help mitigate the flow, but cost versus gain needs to be assessed, and the cost can involve more than dollars. I'm all for rolling up the pushers to sell the stuff in our streets, but that only changes the sellers, the market adapts quickly. Joey will be still be able to find his next fix.

The real issue as you pointed out is societal issue (demand), and I haven't a clue how to address it, but we better figure it out and dedicate some resources to reduce our demand.

Definitely like to hear your counter arguments to my layman's observations on the problem.

Bill,

I don't know if it is possible wage a war on drugs. Must not be because we have been at for years and we seem to be getting no where. Kind of like a war on terror.

We do spend a lot of money enforcing drug laws. I believe DEA's budget is in excess of one billion annually. Amazing.

It is difficult to deal with demand in a democratic society. Heroin has always been a problem, but now we are seeing it in amounts that I could never had imagined. High schoolers getting hooked on it because it's cheaper than pills. Methamphetmine seizures in the hundreds of pounds. Not seeing much coke where I'm at. Marijuana is the state plant - for every state. Anyone who believes that marijuana traffickers are not violent needs his head gear flushed out. Obviously medical marijuana is the big deal. Here in Oregon and I will go out on a limb and say it is probably true for the other states with similar laws, the number of people who have actual medical conditions is very low. It was just a way for the pot heads to make it legal - complete farce. A lot of money being made on it.

Lowering demand is about education - I guess.

Supply? Invade Mexico.

My biggest issue with enforcement of drugs laws is we are always playing catch-up. We, DEA, are not flexible enough, but at the same time we have to work within the confines of the law. We spend a lot of time writing affidavits for EVERYTHING. Bad guy communications is a major point of focus, but we have to do a lot of stuff before we get to that point when we should starting there in the first place.

[gute]

I apologize for posting here but I'm having a problem singing in and posting on the blog page. I think remarking about this article works with this thread since the article opens with a drug search warrant. I wasn't there so I don't know all the facts, but it doesn't look good.

The author writes that SWAT came about to counter preceived threats and I would argue that SWAT came about because of real threats.

IMO LE has too many gear queers and barrel suckers, but I think the guys are a product of the times. Many cops are former military and these guys tend to gravitate toward the SWAT/HRT thing - which I think is good. Some never served in the military so they do the SWAT thing to run around in camo and shoot stuff. All like the hell out of it and that's cool with me. Big city police departments have full time teams while smaller departments go the part time route or intra-agency. SWAT teams give a police chief, city manager, mayor a little CYA. A group of officers who train together on a regular basis. It's all about liability. I don't think the group in Utah was a SWAT team. As I've written before not everything needs to be a hard, flash bang entry, but due to liability many departments have their SWAT teams do all the entries.

I believe there is a growing schism between LE and the public, much like the military and the public. The public doesn't like to see the dirty work getting done. Again, many in LE have lost sight of the fact that they are providing a service to the public and not the other way around. Self-aggrandizing by LE gets on my nerves - I picked the job, nobody made me do it.

The author writes at the end of the article about community policing and I think he is writing how we need to return to community policing from SWAT. Community policing is a strategy, SWAT is tactics. Police Departments everywhere engage in community policing every day. IMO the pendulum has just swung too one way and needs to come back to the middle.

[jcustis]

Watching the response of multiple agencies when Christopher Dorner was isolated in Big Bear was laughable, in a sad way. It was painful to watch so many officers laboring under helmets, kneepads, body armor and belt/chest rigs at elevation and in the freezing cold.

They looked like a US troop on patrol in the orchards of Afghanistan--out of place and outmatched due to immobility.

[Bill Moore]

I apologize for posting here but I'm having a problem singing in and posting on the blog page. I think remarking about this article works with this thread since the article opens with a drug search warrant. I wasn't there so I don't know all the facts, but it doesn't look good.

The author writes that SWAT came about to counter preceived threats and I would argue that SWAT came about because of real threats.

IMO LE has too many gear queers and barrel suckers, but I think the guys are a product of the times. Many cops are former military and these guys tend to gravitate toward the SWAT/HRT thing - which I think is good. Some never served in the military so they do the SWAT thing to run around in camo and shoot stuff. All like the hell out of it and that's cool with me. Big city police departments have full time teams while smaller departments go the part time route or intra-agency. SWAT teams give a police chief, city manager, mayor a little CYA. A group of officers who train together on a regular basis. It's all about liability. I don't think the group in Utah was a SWAT team. As I've written before not everything needs to be a hard, flash bang entry, but due to liability many departments have their SWAT teams do all the entries.

I believe there is a growing schism between LE and the public, much like the military and the public. The public doesn't like to see the dirty work getting done. Again, many in LE have lost sight of the fact that they are providing a service to the public and not the other way around. Self-aggrandizing by LE gets on my nerves - I picked the job, nobody made me do it.

The author writes at the end of the article about community policing and I think he is writing how we need to return to community policing from SWAT. Community policing is a strategy, SWAT is tactics. Police Departments everywhere engage in community policing every day. IMO the pendulum has just swung too one way and needs to come back to the middle.

I agree SWAT formed for valid reasons and have proved their worth multiple times; however, that doesn't justify the inappropriate use of SWAT. Not every target is a hard target, but what happened in this story is inexcusable. If cops are to risk adverse to knock on the door and serve a search warrant without a SWAT team then it seems there are other options. Call the guy on the phone and tell him to open the door you have a search warrant. I guess he could flush his six plants down the toilet, but in the end so the f*&# what? He was vet, he had six marijuana plants, was it really worth getting an officer killed and destroying multiple lives? Hell they could have posted a stake out until he left the house and arrested him outside and served the warrant. Like you said guys like doing this, it is what they train for, but when they lose perspective on what they're there for then mature leaders need to reel them in.