What is militarization? Explain the trends of militarization within law enforcement

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Militarization refers to responding to social problems with military solutions. In law enforcement militarization is usually characterized by martial law.
• Two trends may be seen in this area.
• The first comes from violent demonstrations.
• The Metro-Dade Police Department in Florida developed an effective method, called the field-force technique, for responding to urban riots.
• The technique calls for responding to a growing disorderly crowd, a crowd that can become a precursor to a riot, with a massive show of organized police force.
• Officers assemble in an area away from the violent gathering; isolate the area, providing a route for the crowd to disperse; and then overwhelm it with military riot tactics.
• A field-force exercise looks as though a small army has moved into an area using nonlethal violence.
• A second source of militarization comes from police tactical units.
• These special operations units are called out to deal with barricaded gunmen, hostage situations, and some forms of terrorism.
• Tactical units use military weapons, small-unit tactics, and recognized military small-unit command structures.
• In the past few years many of the units have abandoned the blue or brown tactical uniforms of police agencies for military camouflage, making it virtually impossible to distinguish them from military combat units.