There's now a dominant military culture within modern police agencies. Go to one of many SWAT conferences and SWAT team competitions held throughout the year and you'll find exhibit halls teeming with military weapons, gear, clothing and imagery. The vendors at these events know their market. They use war imagery to ply their goods because that's what makes cops and police departments want to buy them. Many sell the same products to both the military and civilian police agencies. In the 1990s and 2000s, the company Heckler and Koch marketed its MP 5 semiautomatic weapon with the slogan "From the Gulf War to the Drug War--Battle Proven." Publications like Larry Flynt's SWAT magazine feature ads that emphasize knocking heads and kicking ass, and print articles with headlines like "Go for the Throat" and "Warrior Mindset."
Radley Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop, 2013
Radley Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop, 2013
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