4.8 Police Militarization

Transcription

1 Ms. Rebecca and Ms. Sullivan Economic Justice Focus Question 4.8 Police Militarization Name: Section: EJ#: Do Now 1. Update on Baby Bou Bou: After more than 5 weeks in the hospital, Baby Bou Bou was released, although he still has a long recovery. The family received a settlement for nearly $1 million, however this may not completely cover Bou Bou s medical bills. The deputy who ordered the warrant for the Phonesavanh house was charged, but found not guilty. Due to the settlement they received, the family can no longer sue. (Source: Various news sources) What is your reaction to the story of Baby Bou Bou? 2. When does your weekly research packet need to be completed, and why? 3. When does your weekly research packet need to be turned in, and why? Police Militarization Excerpt 6: The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander, professor and civil rights advocate, 2010 Huge cash grants were made to those law enforcement agencies that were willing to make drug-law enforcement a top priority. For example, the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program was designed in 1988 to encourage every federal grant recipient to help fight the War on Drugs. Millions of dollars in federal aid have been offered to state and local law enforcement agencies willing to wage the war. In fact, it is

2 questionable whether any specialized drug enforcement activity would exist in some states without the Byrne program. In addition, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) has offered free training, intelligence, and technical support to state highway patrol agencies that are willing to commit their officers to highway drug interdiction. The Pentagon has given away military intelligence and millions of dollars in firepower to state and local agencies willing to make the rhetorical drug war a literal one. After the federal dollars began to flow, law enforcement agencies across the country began to compete for funding, equipment, and training. In 1997 alone, the Pentagon handed over more than 1.2 million pieces of military equipment to local police departments. Between January 1997 and October 1999, the agency handled 3.4 million orders of Pentagon equipment from over eleven thousand domestic police agencies in all fifty states. Included in the bounty were 253 aircraft (including six- and seven-passenger airplanes, UH-60 Blackhawk and UH-1 Huey helicopters), 7,856 M-16 rifles, 181 grenade launchers, 8,131 bulletproof helmets, and 1,161 pairs of night-vision goggles. 1. Summarize the main idea of this excerpt in your own words: Excerpt 7: The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander, professor and civil rights advocate, 2010 In 2001, the Capital Times reported that police departments had an extraordinary incentive to use their new paramilitary equipment for drug enforcement: the extra federal funding the local police departments received was tied to antidrug policing. Each arrest, in theory, would net a given city or county about $153 in state and federal funding. Non-drug related policing brought no federal dollars, even for violent crime.

3 As a result, when Jackson County, Wisconsin, quadrupled its drug arrests between 1999 and 2000, the county s federal subsidy quadrupled too. Generally, the financial incentives offered to local law enforcement to pump up their drug arrests have not been well publicized, leading the average person to conclude reasonably (but mistakenly) that when their local police departments report that drug arrest have doubled or tripled in a short period of time, the arrests reflect a surge in illegal drug activity, rather than an infusion of money and an intensified enforcement effort. 2. Summarize the main idea of this excerpt in your own words: 3. Based on what you read above, do more drug arrests necessarily mean more drug crimes are being committed? Why or why not? Asset Forfeiture Excerpt 8: The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander, professor and civil rights advocate, 2010 In 1984, Congress amended a law to allow federal law enforcement agencies to retain and use any and all proceeds from asset forfeitures, and to allow state and local police agencies to retain up to 80 percent of the asset s value. Suddenly, police departments were capable of increasing the size of their budgets, quite substantially, simply by taking the cash, cars, and homes of people suspected of drug use or sales. Between 1988 and 1992 alone, Byrne-funded drug task forces seized over $1 billion in assets.

4 The overwhelming majority of forfeiture cases do not involve any criminal charges. As long as law enforcement is free to seize assets allegedly associated with illegal drug activity without ever charging anyone with a crime local police departments, as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies, will continue to have a direct pecuniary interest in the profitability and longevity of the drug war. 4. Summarize the main idea of this excerpt in your own words: Figure 1: Source: KRMG News 5. Complete this See/Think/Wonder chart about the image above. I see I think I wonder

5 Document 1: Justice ends 'asset forfeiture' program By David McCabe in the Hill, 01/16/15 The Justice Department announced on Friday that most police departments could not use federal law to seize property from individuals when they have no reason to believe a crime has been committed. Local and state law enforcement agencies will no longer be able to use the federal program that allowed them to easily seize and keep property they acquired through searches. Under the program, police would seize property and then the federal government would adopt. The police department would keep a large percentage of the value of the property, and the Justice Department would keep the rest. The announcement by the department will not end the use of similar laws that exist at the state and local level. 6. Summarize the main idea of this excerpt in your own words: 7. Is asset forfeiture really gone? Explain. Extra Credit Watch this video from comedian John Oliver s news show Last Week Tonight from October 2014: On a separate piece of paper, write your notes, questions, and a one-page reflection on what you learned. Turn it in stapled to the back of this completed assignment on Thursday 2/25.

6 Exit Ticket 1. Look back to Michelle Alexander s claim we read yesterday, and answer the question again: Participation in the drug war required a diversion of resources away from more serious crimes, such as murder, rape, grand theft, and violent assault. Why do you think the police were willing to reallocate their resources this way? 2. What is the most important thing you learned today? 3. What questions do you still have about police militarization? (Minimum 2)