Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

December 27, 2010

Summarizing a report from the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance, the AP reports:

"Many law enforcement officers called up to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are finding it difficult to readjust to their jobs once home, bringing back heightened survival instincts that may make them quicker to use force and showing less patience toward the people they serve."

Police are supposed to be peace officers, not combat soldiers. Yet in ways too numerous to list here, contemporary police are indoctrinated in paramilitary tactics and assumptions, equipped for a combat environment, and put on a war footing.

The military makes increasing use of Guardsmen and Reservists whose "civilian" job is domestic law enforcement, and domestic police agencies increasingly recruit from the ranks of combat veterans. Tragically, at this point we really should dispense with the illusion that contemporary law enforcement is anything other than the domestic branch of a seamlessly integrated military apparatus.

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