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Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Validating the “Militarization” of Law Enforcement and
Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Preliminary Research Study
January 2014
By Valarie Findlay
University of St. Andrew’s, The Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence
vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 1
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
STUDY CONTEXT...................................................................................................................................... 3
RESEARCH AREAS/FACTORS: ..................................................................................................................... 5
NEUTRALIZING RESEARCH QUESTIONS:..................................................................................................... 5
BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................................... 8
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES IN POLICING AND EARLY EXAMPLES OF
MILITARIZATION................................................................................................................................... 10
SUGGESTED RESEARCH RESULTING FROM THIS SECTION: ......................................................................... 13
IMPACTS OF LEGISLATION AND THE COUNTER-TERROR MODEL...................................... 14
CASE STUDY SUMMARY: UNITED KINGDOM’S COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY ................................... 15
CASE STUDY SUMMARY: UNITED STATES’ US PATRIOT ACT .................................................................. 16
CASE STUDY SUMMARY: CANADA’S COUNTER-TERRORISM EFFORTS ..................................................... 17
CASE STUDIES SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 18
SUGGESTED RESEARCH RESULTING FROM THIS SECTION: ......................................................................... 19
SOCIETAL EXPOSURES AND RESPONSES IN POLICING............................................................ 20
NEGATIVE INFLUENCES: PUBLIC OPINION AND THE POLICING EXPERIENCE............................................. 20
NEGATIVE INFLUENCES ON PUBLIC OPINION: POLICE MISCONDUCT........................................................ 20
POLICE MISCONDUCT IN THE MEDIA ........................................................................................................ 22
THE POLICE PERSPECTIVE AND EXPERIENCE OF SOCIETY ........................................................................ 23
INFLUENCE OF IMAGES FROM MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND “EVERY MAN’S MEDIA” ON PUBLIC OPINION
................................................................................................................................................................. 24
ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY AND CRIMINAL SOPHISTICATION.................................... 27
SUGGESTED RESEARCH RESULTING FROM THIS SECTION: ......................................................................... 29
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................... 30
SUGGESTED RESEARCH RESULTING FROM THIS STUDY: ............................................................................ 35
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................................... 36
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 2
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 3
Study Context
There have been many criticisms of modern law enforcement’s advancements and
activities: enhanced search powers, the acquisition (either funded or through surplus
programs) of the latest military technology and equipment (such as retro-fitted Mine-
Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs1), higher calibre firearms, etc.), and field
practices (excessive force, abuse of power, etc.). Many of the criticisms originate from
civil rights and public policy advocates claiming that this metamorphosis is tantamount to
a Machiavellian “police state” mentality2 – the end justifies the means or as it is
frequently termed, the militarization of law enforcement.
For example, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is the largest advocate
for civil rights and the loudest opposition to militarization in America, uses the slogan
“Towns Don’t Need Tanks”. This broad and biased aspersion towards law enforcement’s
augmentation of capabilities ignores the fact that present day criminals to have access to
high-powered weaponry (high calibre firearms, cannons, grenade launchers, armour
piercing ammunition, etc.), explosives and other sophisticated, controlled substances
intended to maim and kill law enforcement and unarmed non-combatants and that certain
incidents could make value of military-grade equipment.
Validating the militarization of law enforcement, as either a reality or refuting it as a
perception entrenched by optics and external factors, is a complex exercise that cannot
be accomplished by simply aligning cause and effect to selected aspects of law
enforcement that have been transformed or modernized with military-like characteristics.
It is important to recognize that the term’s exact origins are unknown and without a
formalized definition; it is presumed that it is rooted in the ideological concept of
“militarism” and that represents the antithesis of the societal concept of cooperative, free-
thinking empiricism.
1 RT.com: http://rt.com/usa/us-police-mraps-iraq-251/
2 ACLU.org: https://www.aclu.org/militarization
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 4
Further to that, militarization is typically used as a pejorative term in mainstream
dialogue that frequently portrays or describes excessive authoritative or regulatory
constraints and rigour when instituted into a typically civilian-accountable or civilian-
structured organization. This term is not limited to law enforcement as we see examples
of phrases such as “the militarization of sport3”, militarization of corporations”, ”the
militarization of school systems4”, “the militarization of the Internet5”, etc. in several
instances describing the above. Considering this and for the purposes of this study,
militarization as applied to law enforcement has been defined as broadened legislative
powers, military-like behaviour and outward appearance (equipment, weapons and attire)
and coerciveness where it contrasts with the traditional policing framework.
This study will approach the concept of militarization irrespective of whether it is a
reality or perceived notion, with the accepted notion that the pervasiveness of the term
alone has an escalating negative influence on the public attitudes of and behaviours
towards law enforcement further eroding fragile relations. Additionally it will consider
that ignoring the risk permits deterioration of police-public relations at the hands of
external players. Potential contributing factors such as the lack of understanding by the
public and limited communications strategy by law enforcement organizations of the role
of policing within the counter terror model, the necessity for updated legislation that has
augmented organisational, operational and intelligence capabilities to manage borders-
inward security will be explored, as well as the impact of media, the internet and societal
aggression.
Lastly, militarization will be analysed separately from environmental, psychological and
behavioural factors relating to police misconduct (“police brutality”, “excessive force”
etc.), as they are not mutually inclusive but recognizing it as a negative influence and
contributing factor within the study objective. Note, the use of the term “criminal” in
3 Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-astore/the-militarization-of-
sports_b_912004.html
4 The Berkley Review of Education, The Militarization and the Privatization of Public School, 2011:
http://www.academia.edu/655649/The_Militarization_and_Privatization_of_Public_Schools
5 War in Context: http://warincontext.org/2013/02/26/the-militarization-of-the-internet/
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
inclusive of terrorist activities especially where the nexus of terrorist and organized crime
activities have become a growing concern.
This study will utilize a methodology which examines existing literature and qualitative
and quantitative statistics to establish a credible baseline and will verify assumptions with
the following factors (research areas) and neutralizing research question, thereby helping
define the hypothesis.
Research Areas/Factors:
Factor 1: Organizational changes in policing in recent decades
Factor 2: Impacts of legislation and integration of law enforcement into the counter-
terror model
Factor 3: Societal exposures to policing through media and the emergence of “every
man’s media”
Factor 4: Advancements in technology, equipment and weaponry and evolving
sophistication of criminal behaviours
Neutralizing Research Questions:
Research Question 1: What are the present day commonalities between law enforcement
and the military? Are the current similarities between law enforcement and the military
consistent with evolutionary and requisite changes when examining core commonalities
from “ranked”, coercive and armed organizations?
Summary Answer: Both law enforcement and the military have undergone significant
changes in past decades and with law enforcement in particular, the changes are not out
of the scope of capabilities of a coercive organization. However, the following answers to
Neutralizing Research Questions 2, 3 and 4, without detailed exploration, can be
manipulated to and/or already present an optic of the militarization of law enforcement.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 5
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Addressed in Section: Background, Organizational Changes in Policing and Early
Examples of Militarization and Impacts of Legislation and the Counter-terror Model
Research Question 2: Is law enforcement’s adoption and adaptation of advanced
weapons and tactics and psychological repositioning a logical and expected response to
the changes in domestic demands or a result of the implementation of innovative
technologies in general?
Summary Answer: Considering the relative advancements in technology, equipment and
weaponry, as well as the increased accessibility to criminals and the public in general,
law enforcement’s adoption and adaptation of advanced weapons and tactics and
psychological repositioning is considered a logical and expected response to the changes
in domestic demands. Addressed in Section: Impacts of Legislation and the Counter-
terror Model and Advancement of Technology, Weaponry and Criminal Sophistication
Research Question 3: Is the argument for the existence of the militarization of law
enforcement being utilized as an instrument to further a particular agenda or policy?
Summary Answer: There is reasonable anecdotal evidence to indicate that the argument
for the existence of militarization of law enforcement is utilized as an instrument to
further primarily leftist agendas by select policy advocates. While this feature is more
pervasive in the US, it is being evidenced (and has been in the past) to a lesser degree in
Canada and especially in the area of legislative powers related to surveillance and
personal information. Addressed in Section: Background, Impacts of Legislation and the
Counter-terror Model and The Societal Climate –Societal Exposures and Responses to
Policing
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 6
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Research Question 4: Is there a bias in news media in the portrayal of law enforcement,
such as perpetuating an optic of escalating aggression and impunity?
Summary Answer: There is no evidence that news media expresses explicit bias -
specifically or intentionally targets - law enforcement in terms of subject matter.
However, there is evidence that news media capitalizes on egregious events to garner
readership and will continue to reference these events as they relate to other incidents of
police misconduct. Addressed in Section: Background, The Societal Climate – Societal
Exposures and Responses to Policing
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 7
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 8
Background
Over the past decade, North America has seen substantial overhauls to national anti-terror
legislation along with the integration of law enforcement into counter-terror models at the
operational and organisational levels, both being necessary to enhance national counter-
terrorism strategies and address requirements at the domestic crime level. A monumental
effort and not without its failings, anti-terror and criminal legislation has focused on key
modifications to address prevention, deterrence and criminalization within the changing
landscape of today’s terrorism.
In Canada, existing legislation was enhanced and new statutes were adopted to “prevent,
deter, deny and respond”6, identify terrorists and their activities and were suitably
criminalized. While 9/11 appeared to be the catalyst that prompted the legislative changes
and the singular event that brought the term militarization into mainstream media, it was
the underlying characteristics of the new terrorism that truly cemented them into the
framework of the counter-terror model.
The rise of jihadism, the decentralisation and globalisation of terrorist groups, the nexus
of terrorist and organized crime groups and advancements in terrorist activities, such as
“leaderless” groups, technology and the Internet, exploitation of immigration policy and
domestic radicalization, all represented uncharted territory for legislation and policy
analysts. Irrespective of these legislative changes, terrorism continues to outpace
legislation and issues such as criminal and sectoral definitions of terrorism and its
applications, disputable factors around the measures of success and effectiveness and
difficulties in aligning strategy and policy down to the operational level, persist globally.
The causality is presented in two arguments: It has been argued that these wide-sweeping
changes also reflect the formalization and modernization of law enforcement in response
to increased levels of societal aggression and violence, the frequency of organized civic
unrest and sophistication of terrorist groups seen in the mid-20th century and are a critical
6 Public Safety Canada, Building Resilience Against Terrorism: Canada’s Counter-terrorism Strategy
: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/rslnc-gnst-trrrsm/index-eng.aspx
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
support to a nation’s overall stability. The counter argument claims that while a portion
of this transformation was necessary, the largest margin is a result of the pendulum of
coerciveness swinging too far from citizen and community-centric policing and towards a
high-handed response to the rhetoric surrounding domestic “wars”. Therefore, are the
changes seen in law enforcement an expected response to the demands of domestic
service and a relatively small aspect of law enforcement being highlighted to further
biased agendas in public policy? Or is the truth and reality somewhere between the two?
There have been several papers and publications on militarization but the most notable
and visible to the mainstream, other than media references, has been the book Rise of the
Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces by self-described police
militarization expert Radley Balko. The scope of his book covers several areas that are in
line with the optic of militarization in law enforcement but focuses largely on incidents
that would not be considered exclusive to this concept if both sides were accurately
presented. His references are limited to narrowly-margined police demographics and
characteristics, “gear and weapons and tanks “as a homogenized concern, increased use
of SWAT teams, botched or mistaken raids blaming societal “wars” and political rhetoric
and over-simplification of the effects of 9/11 on domestic policing to a funding influx.
While he may be correct in his assessment of police being “psychologically isolated from
the communities they serve” in some instances, Balko misses the substantial integration
and scope of capabilities when he states that it is their “job is to keep the peace while
protecting and observing our constitutional rights”. Above all, Balko ignores distinct
societal changes, police advancements in less-than-lethal approaches, organizational
modernization, all to the point of supporting sweeping police reform and criticism of
what he refers to as the “police-industrial complex”. There is no question that this book,
as well as other books and articles of the same milieu, present a serious public relations
issue for North American police organizations.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 9
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 10
Organizational Changes in Policing and Early Examples of
Militarization
To establish a clear understanding of the current state of policing, it is important to
consider key socio-political events that spurred and necessitated transformations in
policing. History shows that generational perspective – the public’s emotional and
intellectual memory – and the media plays a key role in the interpretation and
proliferation of the term militarization, as well as the perceived overlap between military
and policing capabilities.
Certainly not a new phenomenon this perceived overlap began as early as the 1920s and
became highly visible in the 50s-60s with televised coverage of race riots, Vietnam War
demonstrations and civic uprisings. Today, this type and reach of media coverage
proliferates professional and internet media, as seen during the Occupy Movement with
its distribution of videos and images via the internet. The redefining of civil unrest and
foreign and domestic threats and enemies resulted in specialized units - “riot squads” and
Special Weapons and Tactical teams (SWAT) – specifically trained and equipped to
confront and manage public incidents7. This formalization of “irregular” forces became
what many consider to be the earliest example of functional militarization – the direct,
physical coercion superseding policing as a “peacekeeping” effort. And in essence, this
may have served as an operational template in preparing present day law enforcement to
meet current policing needs.
As the societal landscape changed, North American military and law enforcement
organizations that were originally sanctioned with distinctly different roles underwent
significant transformations to meet current counter-terror and civil needs within their
respective “war” and “criminal justice” models. Specifically relating to military
organization, their capabilities and functions were widened to include lend-lease and to
aid forces at home and abroad, with advanced peacekeeping and acting as instruments of
diplomacy – a much larger scope than executing defence policy and defending national
7 Flamm, Michael W., Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s
(Columbia Studies in Contemporary American History), February 13, 2007 ISBN-13: 978-023111513
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
interests. Along with domestic threats, in the past few decades, one of the most important
influences on military and policing strategies and tactics has been the redefining of
foreign threats and geographic infiltrations. For thousands of years, invasions were a
primary military action that resulted in unmistakable and direct threat to a foreign entity;
they are defined by the physical intrusion of one geopolitical entity towards another by
advancing across its physical borders, thereby presenting the perceived or actual threat.
Today, with reference to terrorism in particular, Western nations are far less concerned
about foreign invasions in the traditional sense and more concerned with subversive
infiltrations: terrorist operatives who are intent on doing immediate harm or strategically
“setting up camp” to assimilate into the population to assist other operatives from within
their borders.
This change in focus from a “borders-outward” view to a “borders-inward” view has had
a dramatic impact on the need for assistance of policing professionals familiar with the
domestic communities and its occupants and capabilities in prevention, detection and
response along with the ability to gather intelligence. Therefore, the transformation and
modification of military and law enforcement capabilities have been directly aligned to
distinct changes in criminal and societal behaviour and the securitization of key assets
from new and emerging threats.
For example, the October Crisis in Canada in1970, marked as a violent uprising of
Quebec’s most radical separatist group, the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ),
sparked an unprecedented response from the federal government. Several days into the
Crisis, which began with the kidnapping of British trade commissioner James Richard
Cross, Prime Minster Pierre Trudeau temporarily invoked federal legalisation known as
the War Measures Act. This allowed for powers for law enforcement that temporarily
suspended certain civil rights and liberties, such as police searches, arrests without
warrants and prolonged detentions without charges and the right to legal counsel. The
public was witness to police and soldiers outfitted in riot gear with high calibre firearms
and the full use of the federal media, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (including
the on-air reading of the FLQ’s manifesto).
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 11
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
In this instance, which was a clear response to civil insurrection, there was an obvious
delineation of military and law enforcement roles, although their application was
unconventional. At the time, Canadian opinion polls showed significant support for the
invocation of the War Measures Act while many notable Quebec nationalists criticized it
for being an excessive response and also wrought with abuse of power by police officials.
When comparing the invocation of War Measures Act as a response to terrorist group
actions to the signing of the USA PATRIOT Act by US Congress after 9/11, vastly
different constructs are evidenced but with similar outcomes in public perception and
criticism. Both were viewed as having a lack of regulatory control at the operational
level, subjective execution of coercive controls, an authoritative aggression that
contradicted the “innocent until proven guilty” and pro-citizen stance of law enforcement
and military Western societies had come to know, and most importantly, perceived
impunity which goes hand in hand with any modification to civil rights regardless of the
intent or execution.
While the public struggled with the dichotomy of law enforcement and military as a
means of national and public safety, a muddying of the “war model” and “criminal justice
model” began to be capitalized by civil libertarians. Where the mandate of traditional
functional policing was to enforce civil and criminal law, protect property and control
civil disorder and were regulated but separate from military or other defence
organizations, while remaining aligned to all levels of the justice system, the present day
law enforcement model operates based on functional capabilities. These capabilities were
founded on an increased scope of mission and response objectives but criminal law
attributes remain are clear and distinctly separate from the “war model”. What resulted
from this divergence was a psychological shift, not only in law enforcement but in how
the public views law enforcement.
From a timeline perspective, this transformation appears to have not yet achieved
maturation and is still evolving as law enforcement continues to widen mission areas that
include border security, crisis management, critical infrastructure protection, cyber-
threats and community level terrorist activities and organized crime. When actualized in
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 12
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
legislation to meet the needs of domestic “borders-inward” counter-terror efforts, law
enforcement within the counter-terror model has instituted approaches that are supported
by modernized – arguably, militarized – capabilities. Outside the counter-terror model,
law enforcement has adjusted capabilities to meet domestic crime and societal changes
and has been subjected to political rhetoric around international and domestic crime wars
– the War on Drugs, the War on Gangs and the War on Terror.
In the past 40-50 years what the public saw was “beat cops” being gradually replaced by,
comparatively speaking, heavily-armed and highly-skilled officers with wider authorities;
frontline officers had become “peace officers in a time of war”. From the public
perspective, the polarity of this transformation in the generational context may have
begun to look like the process in which a society organizes itself for military conflict. For
this age demographic of the public, what defined a war legislatively and how is it
consumed and reconciled psychologically are entirely different processes.
Suggested research resulting from this section:
Additional research on the transformation of law enforcement, as well as the
military, could be performed to establish a factual baseline and historical
roadmap of law enforcement’s evolution and generational perspective.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 13
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 14
Impacts of Legislation and the Counter-terror Model
Metropolitan areas and suburbs by their very infrastructure and population density are
prone to manifestations of political and terrorism-related incidents, often including
violence, and have resulted in securitization of these areas; it is unrealistic to expect the
successful application of all-hazards prevention and response approaches to civil unrest
and domestic terrorism. In order to develop an effective counter-terror model, legal,
political, social and material implications must be examined within this context and the
securitization of prone areas need to be considered from a fundamentally realist view
point, as well as a critical counter measure.
The complexity of protecting public space, national assets and critical infrastructure
assets, the unprecedented metamorphosis and nexus of threats and actors and civilian
conflicts and terrorist activity has challenged traditional national security constructs and
by default, the law enforcement framework. Where coerciveness meets modern day
needs, conceptualizing the design, implementation and execution of the law enforcement
counter-terror model, several operational areas and key capabilities must be correctly
staffed with resources - actor organizations, authorities, specialists, operational and
support roles – and their interchangeable skills and capabilities must be assigned by
incident and mission-type8. These operational areas have very specific day-to-day needs
but in the event of a terrorist incident, an effective and agile policing model would be
able to dispatch first responder support based on proximity and common capabilities and
skills.
The primary framework encompasses legislative, governance, horizontal support and
vertical capabilities that have been formalized and coordinated to provide measurable
benefits. Strategic alignment addressing prevention, detection and intervention,
emergency incident response, surveillance, threat and risk assessment and management
and shared skills and capabilities enabled by transference, training and mentoring are all
key components of the counter terror model from the federal level down to the
8 Study on the Industrial Implications in Europe of the Blurring of Dividing Lines Between Security and
Defence, by the European Communities in 2010,, page 265:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/defence/files/new_defsec_final_report_en.pdf
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 15
community policing level. Agility within the framework is enabled by communications
such as intelligence sharing, reporting, program planning and continuous improvement
and interoperability via common platforms and technologies.
This model, replicated by several Western nations, allows for primary impacts related to
cost and resources to be mitigated and managed through various means such as shared
skills, outsourcing, private policing and other cost-effective, sustainable approaches; the
“one-size-fits-all” approach been has proven unsustainable and was instead tailored to
specific risk and vulnerabilities as outlined in the following case study summaries of the
UK, US and Canada.
Case Study Summary: United Kingdom’s Counter-terrorism Strategy
The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, is an example where police forces have
been integrated and provisioned to contribute to the prevention and alert of terrorist
activities under twenty-one work-streams and forty-two actions.
Two specific implications derived from the strategy that impacted policing and its
resources were the need to act upon third-party and possibly inconclusive evidence and to
extend policing into communities to inhibit extremism at its source. For example, under
the Prevent pillar of CONTEST, police forces are empowered to deter the facilitation of
terrorism by addressing societal structural problems that aid in the radicalization of
individuals and to counter ideologies. As well, under the Protect pillar the focus is
intensified on overall security with regard to borders, utilities, transportation and the
commonest of public places9.
While strategic and broad-reaching, CONTEST presents some challenges and tactical
gaps in the tasks of definition and implementation, mainly the shift from enforcement of
criminal and civil law to the pre-emption and interception of terrorism that requires
9 Hindle, Garry, Head of Terrorism and International Homeland Security and Resilience at the Royal
United Services Institute Policing Terrorism in the UK, Oxford Journals
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 16
substantial resourcing cost. As a result since its implementation, the economic downturn
has reduced the number of police officers, police community support officers and other
staff employed in England and Wales by 5.6% between 2011 and 2012.
Case Study Summary: United States’ US Patriot Act
In the United States, the US Patriot Act of 2001 made drastic changes to restrictions in
law enforcement agencies' intelligence gathering, the Secretary of the Treasury’s
authority to regulate financial transactions and expanded powers and discretion of law
enforcement and immigration authorities in the application of the law to deter and punish
terrorists10.
Specific categorical areas in the US Patriot Act address enhancing domestic security
against terrorism; improved surveillance procedures, intelligence and sharing; anti-
money-laundering preventions; border security; terrorism criminal law and dealing with
the terrorism victims and families and removing obstacles to investigating terrorism.
All-encompassing and internationally aligned, the Act has been criticised by a number of
organisations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for
Democracy and Technology (CDT), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), charging it to be a violation of citizens
rights, privacy and unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution.
Where law enforcement at all levels is enabled by these legislative statues, the above
criticisms underscore the concerns over militarization of US police forces and what is
viewed as a divisive, aggressive stance of coercion in the response to the confrontation of
terrorist infiltration and support activities.
To compound matters, the implementation of a multi-layered, cross-functional and
interdepartmental coordination of counter-terror measures has been costly from a
financial perspective. There have been deep-cuts to many US metropolitan forces and
10 US Patriot Act, US Department of the Treasury, FinCEN, http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 17
continued efforts to reduce expenditures in police organisations; the formula of high cost,
ineffectiveness and compromise of civil rights has resulted in a high level of public
opposition and negative opinion of law enforcement.
Case Study Summary: Canada’s Counter-terrorism Efforts
Although Canada is considered to be much less of a target of direct terrorism threat than
the United Kingdom or United States, their proximity, vested interests, treaty agreements
and shared border with the US, dictated a requirement to respond in kind, at least
strategically and with military support. Canada’s counter-terrorism efforts are governed
by the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, and applied by Canada’s strategic approach, Building
Resilience Against Terrorism, to “prevent, protect, deny and respond” to terrorism
activities and events11.
Involving twenty government departments and agencies, supported by a legislative and
legal framework of eight federal Acts and outlined as a top-down approach that includes
international affairs, security intelligence agencies, law enforcement, including
community level policing, and military, this strategy addresses terrorism as both a global
and domestic threat and sets out multifaceted activities by government departments,
agencies and law enforcement at the federal, provincial, region and municipal levels in a
coherent and unified format.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and other provincial, regional and
municipal law enforcement organizations operate under the “criminal justice model”
utilizing the Criminal Code and the Anti-terrorism Act legislations to deter, disable,
identify and prosecute any one involved in or in support of terrorist activities – both of
which have been modified in recent years to allow for additional powers of investigation
and execution of warrants for law enforcement.
11 Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act, CAN Lii, http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/sc-2001-c-41/latest/sc-
2001-c-41.htm
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Unfortunately, managing the optic to demonstrate a balance between maintaining civil
rights and maintaining public security in the investigation of potential terrorist activities
is difficult and, as with the US, Canada has not escaped criticism. The largest hurdle
appears to be communicating and establishing justifiable action with the public, to either
prosecute or remove doubt, without disclosing details or intelligence that may
compromise current or future investigations.
Case Studies Summary
These three counter-terrorism strategies incorporate virtually the same framework where
the legislative, governance, horizontal support and vertical capabilities are aligned at the
international level and to meet national interests from a “borders inward” approach.
Within the counter-terror model, law enforcement, intelligence agencies and the military
must be partnered and must be agile enough to augment policing and immediate response
needs and clear definitions of what constitutes policing versus military mandates and
capabilities and their assigned operations is cornerstone.
Similarly, the intensive organisational effort required to strategically align domestic
policing efforts with international counter terrorism measure calls for multiple levels of
governance and oversight and legislative and jurisdictional powers to allow for the
establishment and execution of its functions. To be effective, legislative, regulatory and
jurisdictional statutes must provide an unambiguous definition of what constitutes
terrorism and terrorist acts outside of defence of national interests and the bounds of
interdiction must be recognised and enforceable at all levels. The utilization of law
enforcement as the primary point of domestic contact, intelligence and observation of
activities, which is where community-level policing is key and the “criminal justice
model” to ensure the punishment and criminalization of terrorist activities are critical to
the counter-terror model.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 18
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Suggested research resulting from this section:
Additional research on impacts of legislation on the transformation of law
enforcement could be performed to establish a factual baseline of the necessary
functions in support of the counter-terror model.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 19
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Societal Exposures and Responses in Policing
Negative Influences: Public Opinion and the Policing Experience
There are several known factors that bear a negative influence on public opinion and on
the often-overlooked experience and perspective of police of society in general. The
purpose for presenting the individual negative influences experienced by police and
public as a collective is to illustrate the adverse synergy that results in overall
deterioration of the interaction. In other words, the more adversarial one faction becomes,
the more adversarial the responses from the other, irrespective of whether this is due to
direct or indirect experiences.
Negative influences on public opinion:
• Police misconduct as a practical occurrence
• Media coverage of police misconduct
• Media and entertainment’s portrayal of police and impact on the societal climate
and behaviours
Negative influences on police perspectives of society:
• Psychological shift influenced by modernization of policing, public perspective
and social and political policy
• Increased societal aggression, potential for confrontation and violence
• Increased sophistication in criminal behaviour
Negative Influences on Public Opinion: Police Misconduct
There is an inference that police misconduct – brutality, or excessive force and other
abuses of power – are incidental to or a result of militarization. For that reason, this
subject is explored with police brutality as a focus and an abstract factor in an attempt to
validate the term militarization. Like the term militarization, police brutality does not
have a standardized definition nor is it a formalized term in the professional policing
nomenclature but by its literal interpretation infers an unacceptable force and is therefore,
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 20
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
outside the continuum of force that ranges from the least amount, such as presence and
verbalization, to the furthest extreme of deadly force. Use of force models are static
systems of options and related tools (physical force, olesicum capsicum, firearm, etc.)
that are applied to dynamic, subjective events with instantaneous decision while ensuring
consistency and justifiable cause in keeping with the resistance and threat presented.
When use of force options are viewed as misaligned to the resistance and threat presented
or is entirely outside what would be deemed acceptable interactions with the public, they
are labelled as excessive (in) force, or police brutality. The exact root cause of “police
brutality” is multi-faceted but there are preliminary indications that there may be relative
correlations in their prevalence and incidence with the following conditions and factors:
• Geographic area (metropolitan cities with disparate criminal areas) in which they
occur
• Type of crime, such as grossly anti-social (organized crime, drugs, prostitution,
murders etc) crime trends and
• Type of incidents, such as involving individuals under the influence of drugs or
alcohol, are mentality ill or any circumstance that may reduce communications
and/or increase the probability of violence
• Size of the organization, its internal cultural strength and its jurisdiction and
oversight
• Inadequate training and an absence of continued skills improvement for officers
It has been suggested that one or more of the above points may contribute to hyper-
authoritarianism, permissive insubordination and objectification, such as racism, sexism,
homophobia, and ant-Semitism, and the marginalization of individuals by police, thereby
becoming the psychological armour that enables them “to do their jobs” in the most
extraordinary of circumstances. On a theoretical level, it has been suggested that
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 21
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 22
misconduct such as excessive force, is indicator, or a mirror, of society itself and that
police “adopt to adapt” in their criminalized environments.
Regardless of its causality police misconduct in general contributes to a circular effect
through media reporting and entertainment portrays of policing in a negative light.
Police Misconduct in the Media
Police misconduct does have a negative impact on public opinion and perception but
what is important to consider is that these reported incidents are representative of the
minority of incidents except where systemic12. For example, in the US reported
incidences of police brutality accounted for 1.9 percent (2008 US IACP statistics) of all
calls for service – up from .04 percent in 1995. In a Canadian study conducted on the
Calgary Police Force by Dr. Christine Hall showed incidents of excessive use of force,
whether applied or threatened, accounted for 0.7% of all police interactions. It is worth
noting, that this is generalized data and does not allow for examination of trends or
categorical interactions in abject areas (“ghettos”, “projects”), culture and class
disparities (cultural intensification, such as aboriginal reservations, etc.) and other
polarized environments.
Several high profile cases involving claims of police misconduct have not only persisted
in the media as a current news item but also as referential cases. It is not as simple as
saying “one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole barrel”; there is evidence that a small
number of incidents can alter public perception and that the media’s influence on the
public can be sufficient enough to instil a psychological or emotional contagion that long
outlives the original news piece. This notion is presented as a hypothesis based on
existing research on the power of the media with the public and also with an important
anecdotal experiential fact: the majority of police interactions experienced by the public
is limited to few and are usually innocuous events (traffic related stops, bylaws
12 LAPD Rampart Scandal and Its Social Roots: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2000/03/lapd-m13.html
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
complaints, etc.) compared to the public’s exposure to hundreds of negative images and
portrayals of police in media.
The Police Perspective and Experience of Society
The above reference is the referential of the public’s perception and experience of
policing – noting the subtle distinction between perception and perspective. In other
words, it is hypothesized that the public’s immediate and direct experience of police is
very limited and results in a cumulative perception that is garnered by external and
secondary sources such as media and entertainment.
At its most extreme, an optic has evolved on both sides and that there this is a “game” or
“war” of societal opposition. This conflict is at its highest where the public and criminals
separate – where the most lucrative opportunities for financial gain are street level crimes
and where deterrence is ineffectual; it is viewed as a societal issue where the policing
mission is not to solve the crime problem but to “fight a war” of re-establishing and
maintaining the societal status quo.
The police experience of the public or society is exponentially greater and, in the context
of enforcing the criminal justice model, is driven strictly by its environmental influences.
It is the other side of the same coin but both have a direct bearing on the other.
Examining Accountability and Onus on Both Sides …
As noted above, preliminary research indicates that there is a strong correlation between
the public perception of police and police perspectives of the public and that the erosion
of one contributes to the erosion of the other. Recently there have been several studies in
the US and UK involving the use of body cameras on police officers to determine
whether accountability (via video record) has any bearing on behaviours of police and the
public. One such study, at the University of South Florida (USF), has researchers have
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 23
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 24
teamed up with the Orlando Police Department for a long-term assessment of both officer
and public actions during incident interactions using footage from body cameras; in his
case, Taser International has provided the body cameras13.
A similar study was conducted in California in 2012 with the Institute of Criminology at
the University of Cambridge and the Rialto Police Department but with a smaller sample
size of officers than the USF study and it showed a reduction of complaints against Rialto
police officers by 88 percent and a reduction of “used force” by officers by almost 60
percent14.
As interesting as this data may be, it is critical that, in analysing the situational dynamic
between police and the public, there is a defined methodology, detailed demographics,
specific markers and measures, and control factors to ensure an indication of viability in
re-creating a similar study to obtain a clear illustration of behaviours on both sides.
Influence of Images from Media, Entertainment and “Every Man’s Media” on
Public Opinion
As noted above, there is little debate on the influence of media and the impact of images
and portrayals in entertainment of law enforcement on public opinion; in fact the latter is
responsible for significant inaccuracies of law enforcement, victims, due process and the
criminal justice system.
From the landmark television media coverage of race riots of the 1950’s and Vietnam
War demonstrations in the 1960’s to the distribution of video and images using the
Internet during the Occupy Movement, it is clear a significant evolution has occurred in
media and its influence. Technologies and format distribution aside, many professional
media outlets have evolved to conglomerates and the advent of “every man’s media”,
where nearly all citizens are armed with camera and recording devices with Internet
access to distribute them to eager audiences, has grown exponentially.
13 Claims Journal: http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/east/2014/01/14/242812.htm
14 University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology, Violence Research Centre:
http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/research/vrc/
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 25
A key concern with professional media outlets, and to some degree online media
zeitgeists, is that there is an established and accountable level of fair and unbiased
reporting driven by ethics and use of accurate sources. It has been all too common for
news “stories” to be corrected and retracted due to speed at which information travels and
the virality of the internet. While there is no evidence that particular outlets are “anti-
police” or that they select news items on police brutality, militarization etc. for any other
purpose than to increase readership, there is significant evidence from several studies on
Canadian and US media that they typically adopt and maintain certain political and
ideological positions – primarily leftist.
In Tim Groseclose’s book, Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American
Mind, he was able to express the “slant quotient” formula that was demonstrated on
several media case studies15. While media's political and ideological positions are
difficult to influence or change, “slanted” reporting of higher profile news items is
manageable from a public relations perspective with proper strategy, planning and
execution. The important factor to keep in mind is that by and large media has moved far
from the public policy mandate and are businesses that rely on revenues generated by
news and media consumption by the public: the mantra of “whatever sells” – within the
constraints of ethics and legal frameworks – has never been more relevant.
The notion of “every man’s media” is much more fluid and difficult to manage,
especially since it contributes to the content of the professional media outlets in many
cases. Mobile recording technologies (cell phone recorders, cameras, video etc.) have
been coupled with the functionality of the Web 2.0 environment of the Internet which has
created a real-time interactive, micro-publishing, large-sized and high-quality supporting
media delivery channel that is now available to the majority of North Americans.
This is where the above mentioned public relations strategy, planning and execution must
be combined with agility, accurate timing, specific audience targeting and most
importantly relationship building with the public. Of greater concern is, while law
15 Published review, Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind, Claremont Institute,
Feb 2012: http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.1922/article_detail.asp
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 26
enforcement organizations struggle to contain and manage the impacts of “everyman’s
media”, it will continue to grow and develop with semantic features and functionality
with the upcoming release of Web 3.0 functionality in 2016.
The formulation of public perception of law enforcement, victims, due process and the
criminal justice system by media and entertainment has had limited study but there is
credible research, especially the highly cited “Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System:
Television Imagery and Public Knowledge in the United States” by Connie L. McNeely,
that suggests there is a reasonable impact16.
Another critical area is the altering of human behaviour by impacts of exposure of media
and entertainment (movies, videos games, etc.) resulting in behavioural conditioning.
This notion is covered extensively in several publications and books by Lt. Col.
Grossman and his theory known as “killogy”, the behavioural conditioning of the public
towards a more confrontational and violent society by media and entertainment17.
Another study which examined the major domains affecting public trust and confidence
in the criminal justice system identified three key areas:
• The conduct and practices of the criminal justice system.
• The changing values and expectations of the culture the system serves.
• The images of the system presented in electronic media.
It is noted that each area influences the others and with trust being the product of all three
combined likely to increase; when all three domains are aligned and there is a perceived
fairness, trust is increased and this increases compliance with the law18.
16 Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System: Television Imagery and Public Knowledge in the United
States, Connie L. McNeely, 1995: http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol3is1/perceptions.html
17 Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, Killogy: http://www.killology.com/art_beh_conditioning.htm
18 Trust and Confidence in Criminal Justice, Lawrence W. Sherman, University of Pennsylvania, 2001:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/189106-1.pdf
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
In summary of this section, although the cumulative research of the above is US-centric,
the exposure and cross-media within North America indicates there that several areas for
study. The suggested approach is to treat media and entertainment the same in terms of
consumption and comprehensive reconciliation – both consciously and sub-consciously –
and to focus on the behavioural and public opinions as separate study outcome areas.
What is important to underscore as a conclusion is that there is a cyclic, compounding
problem of police brutality, excessive force and abuse of powers – albeit in the minority –
having a negative influence on the public’s perception of police and their attitudes
towards them especially in interactions; this is explored further in the following section.
Advancement of Technology, Weaponry and Criminal Sophistication
Over the past few decades there has been much debate and discussion regarding the
advancements and increased sophistication of criminals and organized crime groups with
respect to cyber-crime but in analysing other types and means of crime it is clear criminal
acts in general have become better organized and more operationally efficient. In North
America, much of this crime is related to organized crime groups, however, individual
“street level” crime has also seen significant advancements that increase their rate of
success.
Part of this is due to the ease of legal access to an array of weapons – from concealed
lethal and non-lethal weapons to large scale weapons such as 37mm grenade launchers,
armour piercing ammunition to “bullet-proof” equipment and materials, etc. It has never
been easier or cheaper to obtain tactical-grade equipment that is on par with and, in many
cases, exceeding that of standard service equipment of operational officers.
In recent years, weapons manufacturers have seen surges in concealed-carry, semi-
automatic and automatic handguns, close-quarter and long range, high-powered rifles and
a myriad of other less-than-lethal weapons and protective equipment. Additionally, new
technologies such as 3D-printed plastic firearms that allow for the creation of
unregistered, difficult to detect firearms that pose significant threat, as an evolution
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 27
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 28
continues in heat and stress-resistant materials and development of components such as
suppressors and full-auto conversion kits19. This unto its self may not present a direct
threat but does create a risk-gap where police officers must be prepared for the potential
for superior confrontation and resistance in what might be considered a routine
interaction.
Much of the criticism of the militarization of law enforcement is attributed to or
references the optic of extreme armament. While the necessary upgrading of weapons
issued to police officers, depending on the organization, has moved rapidly from
revolvers to automatic firearms in a short period of time to specifically address and close
the above gap and continues today, it is not out of step with the advances by criminals.
What is not accounted for, and what contradicts the inference of increased force of
weaponry under the term militarization, is the use of less-than-lethal and non-lethal
equipment by law enforcement since the 1980’s: chemical agents (oleoresin capsicum,
pepper spray, various gases, etc.), impact rounds (rubber, plastic and wax bullets,
beanbag rounds, rubber/electromagnetic rounds, etc.) and electroshock and directed
energy weapons. While these various weapons have been developed to provide metered
options and as a rung of escalation in the use of force tools available to law enforcement,
they are largely ignored in media reporting as an evolutionary step but are much
maligned when involved in a use resulting in a fatality.
In addition to weaponry increasing the capabilities of criminals, mobile and internet
technologies have enhanced communications, organization and networking, transmission
of funds, exchange of and ease and speed for the disposal of stolen and counterfeit goods,
and the increased distribution and access to opportunity networks and channels. The vast
majority of the criminal capabilities that have been enhanced by technology have
developed over the past decade with the emergence of Web 2.0 functionality on the
internet and with mobile and wireless devices.
19 NPR.org, Article on 3D-Printed Plastic Gun Testing by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/11/14/245078880/plastic-guns-made-with-3-
d-printers-pose-new-security-concerns
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Suggested research resulting from this section:
1. Additional research could be performed to examine the psychological effects and
psychological and/or emotional contagion of media on public perception to
establish causality and thereby formulate effective counter measures.
2. Additional research could be performed to examine from the police perspective,
the behaviours and attitudes of the public towards them in various circumstances.
3. Additional research could be performed to examine and benchmark current and
projected criminal sophistication.
4. Additional research could be performed to examine the past and current studies
on the impact of body cameras worn by officers and measures of accountability
within a contextual framework.
5. Additional research could be performed to examine best practices in policing
public relations, public reporting and relationship building using external
benchmarks where appropriate.
6. Other areas for complimentary study data might be public opinion on policing
oversight and the effects of and existence of perceived impunity.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 29
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Conclusion
Several factors were explored and compared to law enforcement advancements and
activities and specific criticisms of modern law enforcement, in an attempt to validate or
refute the militarization of law enforcement: 1) organizational changes in policing in
recent decades, 2) impacts of legislation and integration of law enforcement into the
counter-terror model, 3) societal exposures to policing through media and the emergence
of “every man’s media”, and 4) advancements in technology, equipment and weaponry
and evolving sophistication of criminal behaviours.
Additionally, to ensure a fair assessment, neutralizing questions were established and
answered; the summary is as follows:
1. Both law enforcement and the military have undergone significant changes in past
decades and with law enforcement in particular, the changes are not out of the
scope of capabilities of a coercive organization.
2. Considering the relative advancements in technology, equipment and weaponry,
law enforcement’s adoption and adaptation of advanced weapons and tactics and
psychological repositioning is considered a logical and expected response to the
changes in domestic demands.
3. There is reasonable anecdotal evidence to indicate that the argument for the
existence of militarization of law enforcement is utilized as an instrument to
further primarily leftist agendas by select policy advocates.
4. There is no evidence that news media expresses explicit bias - specifically or
intentionally targets - law enforcement in terms of subject matter but evidence
shows that news media capitalizes on egregious events to garner readership and
will continue to reference these events as they relate to other incidents of police
misconduct.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 30
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
The following general observations were established:
1. The concept of militarization is not new and seems to pervade public dialogue
when operational transformations in law enforcement have occurred (legalisation
affecting law enforcement powers and capabilities, enhancement of the counter-
terror model, organizational responses to civil unrest, etc.) to meet changing
domestic needs.
2. Militarization was analysed separately from environmental, psychological and
behavioural factors relating to police misconduct (“police brutality”, “excessive
force” etc.), as they are not mutually inclusive but recognizing it as a negative
influence and contributing factor within the study objective.
3. History shows that generational perspective – the public’s emotional and
intellectual memory – and the media play a key role in the interpretation and
proliferation of the term militarization, as well as the perceived overlap between
military and policing capabilities.
4. Contributing factors such as the lack of understanding by the public and limited
communications strategy by law enforcement organizations of the current role of
policing, frequently lead to a negative public opinion.
The following factor-driven observations resulted:
Organizational Changes in Policing combined with Legislative Impacts:
1. The transformation and modification of military and law enforcement capabilities
have been directly aligned to distinct changes in criminal and societal behaviour
and the securitization of key assets from new and emerging threats.
2. The rise of jihadism, the decentralisation and globalisation of terrorist groups, the
nexus of terrorist and organized crime groups and advancements in terrorist
activities, redefining of civil unrest and foreign and domestic threats and enemies.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 31
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
3. Key socio-political events have necessitated organizational transformations in
policing such as a change in focus in securitization from a “borders-outward”
view to a “borders-inward” view.
Societal exposures to policing through media and the emergence of “every man’s
media”:
1. Negative influences on public opinion include police misconduct as a practical
occurrence, media coverage of police misconduct and media and entertainment’s
portrayal of police and impact on the societal climate and behaviours
2. Negative influences on police perspectives of society include the psychological
shift influenced by modernization of policing, public perspective and social and
political policy, increased societal aggression and potential for confrontation and
violence and increased sophistication in criminal behaviour.
3. Considering police misconduct, although representative of a very small minority
of police incidents, regardless of its causality, it contributes to a circular effect
through media reporting and entertainment portrayals of policing in a negative
light.
4. Media has moved far from the public policy mandate; they are businesses that
rely on revenues generated by news and media consumption by the public: the
mantra of “whatever sells” – within the constraints of ethics and legal frameworks
– has never been more relevant.
5. The influence of media and the impact of images and portrayals in entertainment
of law enforcement on public opinion is a critical area for concern; in fact the
latter is responsible for significant inaccuracies of law enforcement, victims, due
process and the criminal justice system.
6. “Every man’s media” is much more fluid and difficult to manage, especially
since it contributes to the content of the professional media outlets in many cases.
7. The functionality of the Web 2.0 environment of the Internet has created a real-
time interactive, micro-publishing, large-sized and high-quality supporting media
delivery channel that is now available to the majority of North Americans.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 32
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
8. On a theoretical level, it has been suggested that misconduct such as excessive
force, is indicator, or a mirror, of society itself and that police “adopt to adapt” in
their criminalized environments.
9. The altering of human behaviour by exposure of media and entertainment
(movies, videos games, etc.) resulting in behavioural conditioning of the public
towards a more confrontational and violent society.
Advancements in technology, equipment and weaponry and evolving sophistication
of criminal behaviours:
1. There have been significant advancements and increased sophistication of
criminals and organized crime groups with respect to cyber-crime but in analysing
other types and means of crime, it is clear criminal acts in general have become
better organized and more operationally efficient.
2. It has never been easier or cheaper to obtain legal access to an array of weapons –
from concealed lethal and non-lethal weapons to large scale weapons such as
37mm grenade launchers, armour piercing ammunition to “bullet-proof”
equipment and materials, etc. – that is on par with, and in many cases exceeds,
standard service equipment of operational officers.
3. The vast majority of the criminal capabilities that have been enhanced by
technology have developed over the past decade with the emergence of Web 2.0
functionality on the internet and with mobile and wireless devices.
In summary, considering the above, preliminary research indicates that militarization of
law enforcement is a perception which has been utilized as a social and political policy
agenda. The transformation and modification of legislation and military and law
enforcement capabilities, including armament, would be considered justifiable as they
direct aligned to distinct changes in criminal and societal behaviour and the securitization
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 33
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
of key assets from new and emerging threats. However, this perception contributes to the
reality of deteriorating relations between the public and police.
Several known societal factors bear a negative influence on public opinion and on the
often-overlooked experience and perspective of police of society; it is a cyclic,
compounding problem that has a negative influence on public and police interactions. Of
greater concern is, while law enforcement organizations struggle to contain and manage
the impacts of “everyman’s media”, it will continue to grow and develop with semantic
features and functionality with the upcoming release of Web 3.0 functionality in 2016.
The following suggested research areas may yield additional, valuable information to
prioritize vulnerabilities and viable investments that will help formulate targeted public
relations strategies and planning that are agile, appropriate in information sharing and
accurate in timing, thereby countering negative influences by encouraging relationship
and trust-building with the public.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 34
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
Suggested research resulting from this study:
1. Additional research on the transformation of law enforcement, as well as the
military, could be performed to establish a factual baseline and historical
roadmap of law enforcement’s evolution and generational perspective.
2. Additional research on impacts of legislation on the transformation of law
enforcement could be performed to establish a factual baseline of the
necessary functions in support of the counter-terror model.
3. Additional research could be performed to examine the psychological effects
and psychological and/or emotional contagion of media on public perception
to establish causality and thereby formulate effective counter measures.
4. Additional research could be performed to examine from the police
perspective, the behaviours and attitudes of the public towards them in various
circumstances.
5. Additional research could be performed to examine and benchmark current
and projected criminal sophistication.
6. Additional research could be performed to examine the past and current
studies on the impact of body cameras worn by officers and measures of
accountability within a contextual framework.
7. Additional research could be performed to examine best practices in policing
public relations, public reporting and relationship building using external
benchmarks where appropriate.
8. Other areas for complimentary study data might be public opinion on policing
oversight and the effects of and existence of perceived impunity.
University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 35
Validating the Militarization of Law Enforcement and Identifying Its Influencing Factors
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University of St. Andrew’s, Valarie Findlay, vaf2@st-andrews.ac.uk / vfindlay@humanled.com Jan 2014 36
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