Ferguson violence has Davis, California fearing police militarization
The news took everybody by surprise: the city of Davis with 66,000 residents, a College community with a vast majority of Whites, 59 percent, followed…
Residents of Davis, California fear another scenario such as this one in Ferguson, Missouri. With the militarization of the Davis Police Department, citizens fear a violent catastrophe could one day take place. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, J.B. Forbes)
this_permalink = “http://voxxi.com/category/impremedia/”; this_site = “http://voxxi.com”;View gallery
The news took everybody by surprise: the city of Davis with 66,000 residents, a College community with a vast majority of Whites, 59 percent, followed by 21.9 Asians, 12.5 percent Latino and 2.3 percent Black acquired a Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicle, a smaller version of tanks used in Iraq and Afghanistan, for its Police Department.
This is military gear, not your regular law-and-order local police equipment. But while for most citizens this was a surprised move, the trend to receive this type of combat-ready equipment by local police isnt anything new.
SEE ALSO: Police militarization in Ferguson worries Obama
The Defense Department offers these pieces of equipment for free to over 8,000 law enforcement agencies across USA. The program, run by the Defense Logistics Agency, is named 1033 Program.
The Washington Post reported that the 1033 Program had distributed over $5.1 billion in equipment nationwide since 1997, including $92 million for California law agencies since 2006.
While the Davis police chief justified the need of such tank, the mayor of the city didnt agree with him.
People in this community still remember the aggressive police action against a group of peaceful students during a sit-in protest on campus. Officers pepper-sprayed the group in front of hundred of witnesses and without any provocation in 2011, sparking an international outrage and costing the University of California-Davis, over a $1 million dollars in a legal settlement with the victims.
I can’t understand why a low crime area like Davis needs this kind of equipment. Because we have it, I believe we will use it, whether it’s needed or not. So, there will be a situation where this kind of militarization and escalation of police activity will come, simply because it’s available and maybe someone needs practice in using it, said Jann Murray-Garcia, Assistant Adjunct Professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing of UC Davis.
Murray-Garcia, like many other concerned citizens, worries about the present trend of police militarization: Yes, I do, as I understand the phenomenon taking place across the country.”
Fears of another Ferguson, Missouri
Ferguson, Missouri, where a young black person was shoot to death by police officers a few weeks ago, is considered an example of this trend.
Police stand watch as demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown on August 13, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on Saturday. Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, is experiencing its fourth day of violent protests since the killing. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The images of Ferguson police officers charging, illustrate the new reality around the country: Local police departments are now fully equipped with military gear. And this, according with most commentators and experts, means a more aggressive approach when dealing with public demonstrations.
Former Marine Lyle Jeremy Rubin explains the reasons behind this new and dangerous trend:
The arsenal on display in Ferguson is not the arsenal of riot control. In a town whose population is 67 percent black, while its police force is 94 percent white, we are dealing with something more insidious, both locally and as a nation. We are dealing with an arsenal of racial oppression.
And according with some activists, there is something more than military equipment.
Not long ago I witnessed a show of police full-force in my neighborhood: Several officers, with sophisticated weapons and a tank, surrounding a house, said Debbie Reyes, Central Valley Coordinator at California Prison Moratorium, based in Fresno. They said it was about apparent gang activity, but that wasnt the case. It was early in the morning, with dozens of kids going to school all over.
This show off attitude by police officers, Reyes points out, is also an expensive one.
During the Occupy Fresno movement, a peaceful one, dozens of officers watched them around the clock, costing the City thousands of dollars in overtime, explained Reyes, who also stated that police and sheriff officers used excessive force against demonstrators.
The excessive use of force by police officers during demonstrations no matter how peaceful they are was the subject of a study by the University of California, Berkeley. The main finding: Police often provokes violence.
Activists voice concerns about ethnic minorities to be the target of the police departments.
Definitely there is a racial profiling going on all over, said Reyes. Just look at who is populating prisons around the country: blacks and Latinos.
Murray-Garcia agrees. The way implicit bias works, people of color are subjected to more police misconduct and misjudgment and excessive use of force. That is a statistical fact, and there is no reason to believe that this latest tactic [of militarization] won’t also be subject to these racial disparities.
SEE ALSO: Outrage in Ferguson
