Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

Triana

(22,666 posts)
Thu Aug 14, 2014, 04:16 PM Aug 2014

"We went through some pretty bad areas of Afghanistan, but we didn’t wear that much gear"

. . .

Scriven King, a 10-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force’s law enforcement component and a SWAT officer, attributed the initial spasm of violence to a lack of leadership and mismanagement of public perception on the Ferguson Police Department’s behalf.

“The first thing that went wrong was when the police showed up with K-9 units,” Scriven said. “The dogs played on racist imagery…it played the situation up and [the department] wasn’t cognizant of the imagery.”

King added that, instead of deescalating the situation on the second day, the police responded with armored vehicles and SWAT officers clad in bulletproof vests and military-grade rifles.

“We went through some pretty bad areas of Afghanistan, but we didn’t wear that much gear,” said Kyle Dykstra, an Army veteran and former security officer for the State Department. Dykstra specifically pointed out the bulletproof armor the officers were wearing around their shoulders, known as “Deltoid” armor.

“I can’t think of a [protest] situation where the use of M4 [rifles] are merited,” Fritz said. “I don’t see it as a viable tactic in any scenario.”

. . .


THE REST:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/08/14/military-veterans-see-deeply-flawed-police-response-in-ferguson/
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"We went through some pretty bad areas of Afghanistan, but we didn’t wear that much gear" (Original Post) Triana Aug 2014 OP
One word: Boi-oi-oi-oi-oing! Iggo Aug 2014 #1
There's body armor, and there's body armor. MADem Aug 2014 #2

MADem

(135,425 posts)
2. There's body armor, and there's body armor.
Thu Aug 14, 2014, 04:23 PM
Aug 2014

It is possible to achieve a reasonable level of ballistic protection without projecting the appearance of a storm trooper.

We got away from the whole "community policing" model (which played an enormous role in reducing crime rates--along with the much mocked but effective 'midnight basketball' and other programs) in the post-Clinton years. Maybe we need to get back to that model. Of course, it'll require police to do awful things like talk to people and walk a beat, maybe ride around on a bicycle.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»"We went through som...