Militarization of Local Police Isn’t Making Anyone Safer

After a police officer killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014, Ferguson erupted. One image from the unrest shows the silhouette of a solitary man standing with his hands up in front of a row of armored vehicles, eliciting comparisons with the “tank man” from the Tiananmen Square. In another image—this time from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after the shooting of Alton Sterling in 2016—a woman stands serene, while two police officers in heavy-duty gear approach her.

For many Americans, it is perhaps in these moments that the extent to which local police departments have militarized became evident. Law enforcement have often requested military-grade equipment in the aftermath of police shootings, arguing that these weapons protect them and increase public safety; whereas critics have argued that they will further strain trust between the police and communities, making bad situations much worse.