A Decade After 9/11, Police Departments Are Increasingly Militarized

Radley Balko
The Huffington Post
September 12, 2011

New York magazine reported some telling figures last month on how delayed-notice search warrants — also known as “sneak-and-peek” warrants — have been used in recent years. Though passed with the PATRIOT Act and justified as a much-needed weapon in the war on terrorism, the sneak-and-peek was used in a terror investigation just 15 times between 2006 and 2009. In drug investigations, however, it was used more than 1,600 times during the same period.

It’s a familiar storyline. In the 10 years since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the government has claimed a number of new policing powers in the name of protecting the country from terrorism, often at the expense of civil liberties. But once claimed, those powers are overwhelmingly used in the war on drugs. Nowhere is this more clear than in the continuing militarization of America’s police departments.

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5 Responses to “A Decade After 9/11, Police Departments Are Increasingly Militarized”

  1. Order of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State
    On the basis of Article 48 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the German Reich, the following is ordered in defense against Communist state-endangering acts of violence:
    § 1. Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. It is therefore permissible to restrict the rights of personal freedom [habeas corpus], freedom of opinion, including the freedom of the press, the freedom to organize and assemble, the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications. Warrants for House searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.

  2. I think the PATRIOT Act should rightfully be renamed the Nazi Act because it is taken from the Act that the Nazi’s used to take away the German people’s rights and freedoms.

    Does anyone know the name of the freedom stealing act that those Nazi bastards made to steal the german people’s rights and freedoms.

    If you know the name of the document please post the name.

    The PATRIOT Act and the Nazi’s freedom stealing act look exactly the same in the wording.

    • Reichstag Fire Decree

      • The decree, officially the Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten zum Schutz von Volk und Staat (Order of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State), invoked the authority of Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution which allowed the Reichspräsident to take any appropriate measure to remedy dangers to public safety.

        The decree consisted of six articles. Article 1 suspended most of the civil liberties set forth in the Weimar Constitution, including freedom of the person, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, the secrecy of the post and telephone, not to mention the protection of property and the home. Articles 2 and 3 allowed the Reich government to assume powers normally reserved for the federal states. Articles 4 and 5 established draconian penalties for certain offenses, including the death penalty for arson to public buildings. Article 6 simply stated that the decree took effect on the day of its proclamation.

        • Awesome. Thank you frankenstor. We need to let people know the truth that The PATRIOT Act is in fact The updated version of the Reichstag Fire Decree for the 21st century.

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