Police militarization is when law enforcement officers use military equipment and tactics. This all began when the National Defense Authorization Act was passed in 1990. It increased the budget and spending funds of the Defense Department. The sharp rise in drug violence allowed the Defense Department to transfer military weapons to police departments. After the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the Department of Homeland Security gave more than thirty five billion dollars in grants to both state and local police departments between the years of 2002 and 2011. The American Civil Liberties found that the value of the military weapons used by American Police Departments had risen from one million dollars in 1990 to about 450 million dollars in 2013. …show more content…
The Federal government believes that militarizing the police will make cities safer and will reduce the rate of drug activities and crime. They also believe it will reduce the rate of terrorism. The government also wanted to find productive uses for old military equipment that was no longer needed. The equipment would have otherwise been used for scraps or sold to other nations. The Federal government thinks this is a good deal because some police departments are in need of new gear but cannot get any due to budgeting. Since the old equipment is gone the military will also have more room for new