I have made several postings recently about the use of excessive force and the militarization of our police forces.  Swat teams are deployed with frightening frequency and most deployments are to simply issue search warrants, many of which are non-violent offenses.  Police responses to the Ferguson protests and the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings are abhorrent and are a vivid indicator to what our police forces have become. I found and interesting blog that highlights the use of force,police shootings, in our nation compared to other westernized countries.  It even more vividly points out how freely our police accept lethal force as a common tool and it's willingness to use it against the citizenry.  Here is a snippet:

wants the already "dumbed-down" citizen 'IN CONSTANT FEAR'. A cursory look at history will reveal that ALL despotic oligarchies, monarchies, dictatorships and fascist regimes thrived using fully militarized civilian policing.  

whatever you can get to keep your officers safe .  

This nation will be on the far end of the spectrum, as far as "militarized police" go.  

Which may become a money pit for the municipality to maintain.

It goes back to Columbine and the inept police on site . Since that day Blackwater/Xe/Academi has trained 100s of 1000s of police officers hence the military look. That money is what put the company on the map .

You are incorrect...the Ferguson Police Chief inflamed the situation by releasing the video store footage simultaneously with the release of the officer's name. Clearly an attempt to smear the victim and enrage a community already enraged by the death of an unarmed back man and one that has been over policed.

John Oliver, from the Daily Show and Last Week Tonight, makes perfect sense of the situation in Ferguson.  It's quite maddening that a comedian, instead of our elected leaders, can clearly see what is happening and why.

When people gather is there always police in riot gear? It is no wonder some people feel their only choice is violence. It seems our black population is going to be the ones to fight for our rights guaranteed by the constitution

Just in case you have forgotten, the police practically locked down the community in Watertown, MA performing door to door searches looking for the bombing suspects.  The attached video is just a sampling of what innocents residents endured.  This is what we live in folks.  A world where overwhelming response is used to police.  Would you feel safe if the police showed up at your door with the force displayed?  Would you be brave enough to impose your 4th Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure against a display of force like this

it up every night just like everywhere else in America . They're worthless wastes of oxygen . Funny I don't remember the outrage when the white dude in Detroit was beat by a mob after he stopped to help the idiot kid hit hit with his truck because the stupid little hickory head was playing chicken with cars. Oh yes and I don't remember any riots when the 90 yo vet was murdered in Seattle by two more wastes of oxygen.  

The DP can only police "crime" that exists after the "crime" occurs.

Yourself, JO, and HBO are making light(and money) off the death of this young man.

Only you can fight for your constitutional rights.

The citizens tossed it of an overpass.

the cop to have a night stick and handcuffs?

over Obama spying on us, the press and doing nothing to stop the IRS from being used as a political weapon against the opposing party.

fully armed and lethal response from the American citizenry for these abuses of our rights.  

my gracious God let me go all the way to jury trial and receive some justice, by my pro bono lawyer tearing apart the police on stand.   I remember the female DA, she was crying a lot that day over something personal and just looked like a complete idiot wasting tax-payers time and money.   Jury of my peers adjoured for a couple of minutes before coming back with NOT GUILTY.  

If it was in their backyard they would would want that APC with a cop on top in full kit protecting them .

is corrupt Holder even involved ?  

that is how tyranny works, keep us in fear and divided.  

Really?!  The absurdity of your questions astounds me.  An unarmed mas was shot who was at least 35 feet away from a police officer. That's all the evidence I need.  Get real

Lack of residue. If there was a struggle over the gun and the dude turned and charged that changes things.

Again...you are clueless.  Over policing occurs when police put excessive focus on a particular segment of the community. Just look at New York city and their two most recent policies; Stop and Frisk and Broken Windows.

And that would be ALL the evidence you need?  

This has nothing to do with the color of Obama's skin.  The intelligence abuses started under the Bush administration and have unfortunately been continued and in come cases expanded by this administration.  Unfortunately, the house/senate committees that are responsible for providing oversight of the programs are complicit with the intelligence community, save for Sens Udal and Wyden.  

plan on letting them used it in a reasonable amount of time. They've gotten all this new high-powered gear, and they can only be satisfied with practicing with it so long, before they are itching to use it we a real live situation. If no legitimate situation shows up soon, they will find any excuse to use it.

Those are stats of the actions taken by NYPD that were legal. I may not agree such actions should be legal. That is not the question I asked. I don't believe the tactics of deployed by NYPD are the same tactics deployed by Furgeson PD. Who I believe are no longer on the job currently

And that's BEFORE they knew about the autopsy, pot in the kids system, etc

the same exact people riot and loot when their sports team wins a championship. What a joke !!!  

taking our rights away. Welcome to the party pal

nearly as much as they did when bush was potus.

Somebody needed to pump six into this one too.

'Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't someone out there to get you.' There are plenty of perps out there who want to take away what we have, and as a country, we do have our enemies. It's just a matter of what is the most effective way to deal with them, while losing as few freedoms as possible.

He is trying to appeal to black voters, and wishes to change the draconian drug laws that allows police to abuse power.  Also, he is trying to change criminal background checks to exclude any drug violations so that blacks (majority convicted) will not be discriminated against with employment.  And I am sure Rand Paul has a lot to say about the Patriot Act that has gone too far.  Tea Party favorite or not, he makes sense for liberty and civil rights.

"Color" has a finite influence on this shit. White, black, brown, yellow, Democrat or Republican it does not matter. The fascist Corporate/State plutocracy that now OWNS our government thanks to "Citizens United" will not allow a candidate who believes in citizen's rights and the Constitution of the United States. The wholly egregious forced disenfranchisement and barring of Ralph Nader from the General Election and televised debates is proof that only "owned" candidates are allowed into the game.  

down the back of white, liberal media elites re: criticism of  him, you are seriously out of touch with reality.  

In other words, you are "demanding" something that will "never" happen.

just a few months ago in a speech he delivered about the NSA and the erosion of our civil liberties. Its on the net. It was fascinating to see far lefty millenials in such agreement with a Tea Partier.  

Believe what you will, I'm sticking with version.

Instead of providing you examples...thus requiring thought, I will break it down to simple words for you.  Over policing occurs when the police repetitively comes in contact with the public to enforce law in a non-discretionary basis resulting in feelings of harassment of the community.

Really?  A person that has been shot 4 times is going to continue to charge the person shooting them.  I don't think so, you have been watching too many movies my friend.

Cop hater?  Not at all.  I simply choose to hold them accountable for their actions.  Police have to authority to take you to jail and in some cases, shoot to kill.  I want all police to enforce the law with the minimal amount of force necessary.  They are to apprehend suspects, not beat them down or issue justice on the spot. I won't give them a free pass because they are frightened for their lives, they are supposed to be trained to act appropriately under duress.  And when a police office shoots and unarmed suspect, they better have a damn good reason for doing it.

Is that why we have no Keystone pipieline?

Any decent DOJO will train his students to avoid fights. The biggest man will walk away from an unnecessary physical fight  with  unspoken  confidence he could annihilate an unarmed man.
  Most people with superb training in martial arts will avoid causing serious  harm to their attacker.  
 
  Only a punk/thug or a drunk  would look for a fight when they learn hand to hand combat..
 The most highly trained fighters have nothing to prove on the streets, they rarely become involved in bar, beach , night club, or street fights .  
   

I think Rand will even appeal to more voter's than his father.  Here is a link to Rand Paul on the militarization of our police.

The number of times a person has been shot is MUCH LESS relevant than WHERE on the body those bullets hit. Think about it. Would you rather be shot 4 times on the foot or once in the head?

Only cop haters do that. Stop listening to Sharpton and listen to all the facts, something Sharpton is always short of it seems.

something that needs to be debated.

Any decent instructor, not Dojo, teaches his students that the best defense is to avoid conflict. I was couching my remarks previously to "the itch," which I failed to do so here. But, that's my contention. That it's human nature to exercise the limits of one's proficiencies or skills. To cross over that line of thuggery is an itch to avoid scratching. To me, the line is when one starts a fight, then severely injuries his opponent. If you give someone what he's looking for,a fight, and you use the least amount of effort and damage in stopping him, that's not thuggery, in my view. But, as you learn in any dojo, there's always someone who can walk through the door who can clean your clock, so it's best to be wise, humble and have a learners mind.

2 graze wounds to the arm, 2 to the same  arm.  

...why Andy of Mayberry has one and Deputy Barney Fife used it to run down Gomer and Floyd the barber.

Get your drugs and their effects in proper order. Just because a racist, southern plantation owner wrongly convinced Congress into listing Cannabis as a narcotic in the 1930s despite multiple contrary expert medical opinions does not mean you should go through life equally as ill-informed and gullible.

Do you have any science to prove your theory?

about Gomer it's you BPS . I bet your HS yearbook picture has your nickname " Gomer " under it.

What THC can do to the human brain.