Quote Originally Posted by gute View Post
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.