Explain the concerns of some police observers regarding what they see as an alarming trend toward the police becoming more federalized and militarized

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Some people are concerned about how 9/11 has affected policing and COPPS, shifting emphases away from the local level of police work and directing available budgets to anti-terrorism rather than to solving problems involving neighborhood crime and disorder. They perceive a trend of the local police being co-opted by federal law enforcement agencies, as well as the police themselves becoming more militarized in this era of community policing. They perceive that municipal police are devoting more of their attention and resources to controlling the nation's borders, Internet, and seaports, enforcing immigration laws, and assuming a more federalized agenda. They argue police are experiencing greater centralization, a loss of jurisdictional integrity, and local political control, and are becoming the eyes and ears of Federal enforcement agencies. They argue there is a trend toward federalization (of police) and point to an increasing federalization of criminal law. Closely related to this perceived trend is the militarization of the local police. Some viewers believe the line separating police and military jurisdictions has been blurred and that there has been a heightened level of activity linking the military to the police, as millions of pieces of surplus military equipment have been given to local police departments across the country, which has caused a dramatic rise in paramilitary SWAT teams over the last quarter century.