American Police Beat magazine recently examined the ominous trend toward militarization of law enforcement.

The publication observed that police agencies across the nation ?are buying armored vehicles and `mobile command centers' like there's no tomorrow. And while the vehicles certainly do make an impression on the cops and communities they serve, some criminal justice experts warn that their use in fighting everyday crime could no more harm than good.?

Critics point out that the deployment of armored vehicles in high-crime neighborhoods ?may only make a tense situation worse by making residents feel like they're under siege.?

Professor Peter Kraska of Eastern Kentucky University points to another inherent danger, noting that supplying police departments with combat-caliber hardware ?tap[s] into that subculture within policing that finds the whole military special-operations model culturally intoxicating.?

In our constitutional system, the military and police have entirely different roles and must be kept entirely separate. The alternative, which is unfolding before us, is a steady descent into a garrison state.

Let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.