Stop United States police militarisation, British trade unionists say

This video from the USA says about itself:

Radley Balko on the Militarization of America’s Police Force: VICE Meets

28 August 2014

On August 9th, 2014 a white police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. The death of Brown fueled days of unrest in Ferguson. Protestors took to the streets and were met with heavily armed police officers in armored vehicles. It wasn’t long before Ferguson, a town of 21,000, resembled a war zone. This week’s VICE Meets is a conversation about the militarization of America’s police force, with journalist and author of Rise of the Warrior Cop, Radley Balko.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Conference calls for end to policing militarisation

Friday 22nd May 2015

POLICE brutality and racism in the US is “aggravated by austerity and a corporate strategy designed to take back gains previously won by workers,” PCS conference agreed yesterday.

Proposing a motion voicing “concern at the killing of Freddie Gray in Baltimore and the numerous other deaths of black citizens by police in the US,” union executive member John McInally said recent shootings amounted to “state terrorism.”

“We’re seeing the highly advanced militarisation of the US police forces, who increasingly see their role as defending rights of corporate interests rather than defending rights of citizens,” he said.

“This is the reality of life for black citizens, rooted in racism and inequality, and deeply aggravated by austerity.”

In its international section, the conference also passed a motion condemning the continued detention of Shaker Aamer in Guantanamo Bay and pledging to work for his release.

Obama ban on police military gear falls short as critics say it’s a ‘publicity stunt’. Six of the seven items on ‘prohibited list’ have not been distributed to law enforcement for years and skeptics question whether rules will be enforced: here.

An investigative report appearing in a Miami newspaper, the New Times, provides details about the Miami-Dade Police Department’s expanded use of military-grade equipment vehicles on an everyday basis. The MDPD announced Monday that they will begin “randomly” sending out their “rapid deployment force” to various county buildings, as well as public transit stops: here.

Trump could lift an Obama-era ban on police buying military equipment.

PENTAGON RUBBER-STAMPS POLICE REQUESTS FOR MILITARY GEAR Police are citing racial justice protests and routine 911 calls to ask for armored vehicles built for a battlefield — and the Defense Department is buying it, a HuffPost investigation has found. Make some time for this important story that shows how far local police departments are willing to go to get taxpayers to buy them battle-ready gear. [HuffPost]

Police in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), have extended the use of military assault rifles. The Public Order and Riot Squad (PORS) will carry these weapons for the first time during the Christmas-New Year period in the state’s capital, Sydney: here.