The Rise of the Warrior Cop

Through a number of federal programs and grants--ironically accelerated under this 'Hope' and 'Change' administration--local and regional law enforcement departments and agencies are able to militarize their forces to get things like armored personnel carriers and drones. This has been done under the umbrella first of the War on Drugs and more recently our War on Terror. The mentality has escalated to a point now where local police departments are using their more militarized equipment and training for things like storming local poker games and trying to stop underage drinking.

With these growing new capabilities, departments have been given broad discretion, often creating civil liberties issues.  Radley Balko is the author of “Rise of the Warrior Cop,” which documents how widespread this issue has become. Balko joined 'Real News' Thursday to discuss the issue.

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