Militarized Local Police Tap Post-9/11 Federal Grants to Stockpile Combat Gear, Use Drones

www.democracynow.org — A new report by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that since 9/11, local law enforcement agencies have used $34 billion in federal grants to acquire military equipment such as bomb-detection robots, digital communications equipment and Kevlar helmets. "A lot of these technologies and devices have been around for a long time. But as soon as they have a law enforcement capability, that is a game changer," says George Schulz, with the Center for Investigative Reporting. "The courts and the public have to ask, 'How is the technology being used by a community of people — the police — who are endowed with more power than the rest of us?'" Local police departments have also added drones to their tool kit. In June, a drone helped local police in North Dakota with surveillance leading to what may be the first domestic arrests with help from a drone. The American Civil Liberties Union has issued a new report that calls on the government to put establish privacy protections for surveillance by unmanned aerial drones, especially of people engaged in protests. "We believe that people should not be targeted for surveillance via drones just because they are they are engaged in First Amendment protected activity," says Catherine Crump, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• democracy now
• dn
• headlines
• news
• politics
• amy goodman
• aclu
• drones
• police
• George Schulz
• catherine crump
• 9/11
• september 11
• terrorism
• war on terror

[megandnelson]

thats fukin logical lets spend 34bil to terrorize and nickel and dime us citizens

[mstrephoenix1]

Maybe if you stop bombing the fuck out of the world you would not have terrorists don't cha think?

[jcharit1]

@DickOPlenty NDAA pasted yesterday, bleep got real

[DickOPlenty]

patriot act, tsa scans, checkpoints, militarized police, drone surveillance = police state. unbelievable

[thisisyourwakeup]

fargo is in danger hahaha

yeah right

the only people likely to target Fargo are the US government in much the same way as they attacked the murrah building or unleashed the anthrax

[Research0digo]

Stop this video at 17:13 .  Is that an ultra low frequency device in the back of the vehicle?

[DickOPlenty]

wtf. this ain't conspiracy theory stuff anymore

[Cabronosidad]

Militarization of the police, Patriot Act, TSA, drones over the civilian population, and now indefinite detention without trial. Congratulations America. You're fucked!

[budapest509]

In the next season shoot drones not ducks.Save the planet!

[budapest509]

2 coppers watched this.

[237Michael]

This is the Israelization of police in America.

[TripleSpeak]

Shysters of the ACLU criticize fellow shysters. One of the big problems is the shysters themselves. Not-so-brights like this one, not-so-brights like Obama...they're given far too much money & power for a mere 6 semesters of shyster school.