Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

September 22, 2011

According to the Richmond, Virginia Times-Dispatch, ?It was difficult not to feel safe ? inside the exhibition hall at the Greater Richmond Convention Center? during the 2011 National Tactical Operations Conference. This sense of security was supposedly provided by the presence of ?hundreds of armed police officers ? many looking like professional bodybuilders with badges, skin-tight t-shirts, camouflage fatigue pants and combat boots? who were on hand to examine  high-tech weaponry, high-performance body armor, and armored vehicles.

Typical of the customers on hand at the event was Captain Robert Allen of the Palm Beach County Sheriff?s Office. ?We?re always looking to update our technology? Anything that can minimize the exposure of our officers to danger.? That candid statement of priorities would come as a surprise to those who assume that the first mission of the police was to ?protect and serve? the public.

Since 2001, billions of dollars have been disbursed to local police agencies through the Department of Homeland Security, creating a vertically integrated and militarized monolith. This has enhanced profits for contractors, and job security for law enforcement, while creating a huge and menacing apparatus of regimentation that does nothing to improve public safety ? and a great deal to undermine it.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.