On March 6, 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri and affiliates in 22 other states simultaneously filed public records requests to determine the extent to which local police departments are using federally subsidized military technology and tactics that are traditionally used overseas.
“Equipping state and local law enforcement with military weapons and vehicles, military tactical training, and actual military assistance to conduct traditional law enforcement erodes civil liberties and encourages increasingly aggressive policing, particularly in poor neighborhoods and communities of color,” said Kara Dansky, senior counsel for ACLU’s Center for Justice. “We’ve seen examples of this in several localities, but we don’t know the dimensions of the problem.”
The ACLU-EM filed public records requests with four law enforcement agencies, (St. Louis County Police Department, St. Louis City Police Department, Columbia Police Department and Farmington Police Department) seeking information on the use of:
SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Teams, including:
* Number and purpose of deployments
* Types of weapons used during deployments
* Injuries sustained by civilians during deployments
* Training materials
* Funding sources
Cutting edge weapons and technologies, including:
* GPS tracking devices
* Unmanned aerial vehicles (“drones”)
* Augmented detainee restraint (“shock-cuffs”)
* Military weaponry, equipment, and vehicles obtained from or funded by federal agencies such as the Departments of Defense and/or Homeland Security
A separate request will be filed this week with the Missouri National Guard, seeking information regarding:
* Cooperative agreements between local police departments and the National Guard counter-drug program
* Incidents of National Guard contact with civilians
“The American people deserve to know how much our local police are using military weapons and tactics for everyday policing,” said Allie Bohm, ACLU advocacy and policy strategist. “The militarization of local police is a threat to Americans’ right to live without fear of military-style intervention in their daily lives, and we need to make sure these resources and tactics are deployed only with rigorous oversight and strong legal protections.”
ACLU affiliates from Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin filed the public records requests. Once the information has been collected and analyzed, if needed, the ACLU will use the results to recommend changes in law and policy governing the use of military tactics and technology in local law enforcement.
For more information, check out the Militarization of Policing in America page on the ACLU website.