Militarization Has Fostered A Policing Culture That Sets Up Protesters As 'The Enemy' — Tom Nolan

The problem is not so much individual policemen (yes, the problematic ones are almost always male) as police culture. Instead of "few bad apples," it is police culture, which varies from department to department that underlies this as a continuing issue.

But there is also an overall cultural approach to policing, and in the US it has increasingly become a militarized one, especially since the inception of the Global War on Terror, which as a domestic component. For instance, the US has never before had a Department of Homeland Security, and tight coordination among military, intelligence and domestic security. This is a threat to democratic governance, as these organizations gain institutional prominence.

As a former police officer of 27 years and a scholar who has written on the policing of marginalized communities, I have observed the militarization of the police firsthand, especially in times of confrontation.

I have seen, throughout my decades in law enforcement, that police culture tends to privilege the use of violent tactics and non-negotiable force over compromise, mediation, and peaceful conflict resolution. It reinforces a general acceptance among officers of the use of any and all means of force available when confronted with real or perceived threats to officers....

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Militarization Has Fostered A Policing Culture That Sets Up Protesters As 'The Enemy'

Tom Nolan, Emmanuel College