NCJ Number
209722
Date Published
2005
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses some of the paramilitary policies and practices post September 11, 2001, and its impact on the culture of policing and police-civilian relations.
Abstract
The use of paramilitary techniques and strategies by State and local police forces in the United States is not a new phenomenon. However, the connections between the police and the military, in particular the paramilitary policing of the domestic population in the United States speaks of a regression to crude state tactics, as well as to blurring the external and internal security functions and an increase in bureaucratic surveillance and repressive social control. To better understand the implications of current paramilitary policing strategies in the United States, this chapter discusses the ideology and practices of militarism and war, as they constitute a response to social problems, the operational imperatives of high policing, and some of the defining characteristics of paramilitary policing. The author suggests that the Al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001, have brought about an unprecedented focus on terrorism in the United States with an increased focus by municipal and State police forces to counterterrorism strategies and tactics. The chapter explores the role of municipal and State police forces in the war against terrorism with emphasis on the impact of increased paramilitarisation, public order policing on the culture of policing, and police-civilian relationships. Discussion questions and references