Local Fallout From Ferguson

Like many of the residents of the Coachella Valley, I have been riveted by the sights that have been coming out of Ferguson, Missouri recently. The images of local police, dressed in fatigues, using tear gas and stun grenades to deal with protestors seem more like the dying days of the Nicholae Ceausescu regime than that of a modern American city. The taping over of badges so officers can not be identified looks like Chicago almost 50 years ago. Reporters being tear gassed and roughed up conjure up dark images of bygone time.

I was stunned by the amount of fire power deployed by the St. Louis County Police Department. Still pictures of cops using an armored vehicle with sniper rifles and dressed like they were ready to ride into Baghdad is not what should be expected out of a local police department.

The result of all this sadness and craziness should be a discussion on the militarization of local police which has been ongoing since the late 90's. Critics on both the right and the left, including Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), have called for the scaling down of a Pentagon program which has distributed about 4 billion dollars of surplus military stockpiles to local police.

Part of the problem is that there appears to be little if any local oversight of the procurement of these weapons. Most are “paid” for with government grants so the local taxpayer thinks of them as a gift.

According to the New York Times website, Riverside County has received hardware from this program.

Has anyone asked Sheriff Stan Sniff Jr. why the county needed 2 armored vehicles as well as an MRAP? An MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle is like the ones our troops used in Iraq.

Did the Board of Supervisors know about this? I think the Sheriff Department should answer why and how this military equipment was procured and in what instances could they see it being deployed?

Also did the department receive tear gas and stun grenades from the Pentagon?

Many will say we need to keep the officers safe. Exactly. But not only the officers but equally the general public as well. And the use of military equipment in civilian police operations is guaranteed to do neither.

Steve Kelly hosts Kelly's Corner on 1450 KPTR Daily From 4 to 6P He can be reached at skelly@rrbroadcasting.com