Lethal weapons

The Editorial Board thinks there is such a thing as too much concern for public safety.

Take Franklin, Ind., for example. Located south of Indianapolis, Franklin has a population of around 23,000.

Their sheriff’s department just purchased a 55,000-pound Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle from military surplus. The vehicle is equipped with heavy armor, bulletproof glass, and a gunner’s turret.

We at the Editorial Board find it hard to justify the need for such a vehicle in the streets of a small city in the middle of the United States.

Franklin does have a property crime rate slightly higher than the national average, but their violent crime rate is below the average. They did see a spike in violent crime in 2005, but it has since been decreasing.

Point being, it’s a city in Indiana, not a war-torn pile of rubble in the third world.

Such purchases aren’t restricted to one city. Eight Indiana law enforcement agencies have obtained MRAP’s since 2010.
 
The total number of SWAT actions in the U.S. has risen to more than 40,000 per year.
We are witnessing a militarization of our police. Why the heavy-handed tactics?

Pulaski County sheriff Michael Gayer, whose department also obtained and MRAP, said such gear is necessary.

“The United States of America has become a war zone,” he said. “There’s violence in the workplace, there’s violence in schools and there’s violence in the streets.”

The Editorial Board disagrees, since actual statistics show violent crime has decreased in the U.S. by 37 percent during the past 20 years.

We understand that without enough security, freedom is pretty much worthless. If you’re in danger of getting robbed or killed, you probably aren’t too concerned with midterm elections.

But the U.S. is not in such a crisis. And focusing on security too much is just as bad. Not only can it restrict rights, but it can breed a culture of fear that escalates violence even more.

For some reason, America believes it is getting more dangerous.

The Editorial Board thinks it’s partially the media’s fault for sensationalizing tragedies and not providing context—that’s something we as members of the media need to work on.

But police also don’t need to act like they’re in a war zone, because this will just alienate them from the public and make it harder to fix the problems they see.

Their job isn’t to scare people into line; it’s to be protective, responsible parts of their communities. They should be who we look up to, not who we curse under our breath.

As citizens, we must not stand for this. We aren’t a nation of criminals. We’re actually reducing crime. We need to not be so afraid of each other. And we need to spurn anyone who tells us otherwise.

The Editorial Board thinks we should work to reduce police weapons and armored vehicles.

That’s the best way for them to protect and serve.

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