Militarization of Police

Steven Greenhut | 2.6.2026 7:30 AM

When I wrote regularly about police use-of-force issues for this newspaper, I encountered two types of officers: those admirable ones who de-escalated situations and those who escalated them. Thanks to a lack of hiring standards, purposeful federal policy, poor training, and a lack of accountability or punishment for bad behavior, ICE is going all in on the second approach. This bodes ill for the safety and liberty of all Americans.

The administration no doubt is doing this because it believes most Americans will instinctively back law and order. Notice all those blue-striped flags and bumper stickers. I have experienced escalation before. I made a minor jaywalking mistake and was non-threatening, but the officer shouted in my face with the apparent goal of prompting me to lose my cool and give her an excuse to pummel me.

It should not surprise any American that some officials like to act aggressively. That's a defining observation of an American revolution that broke the yokes of a British king who "sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." Those officers had legal standing, by the way, but the colonists—unlike modern conservatives—didn't argue that we should blindly obey.

I'm not getting into the details........

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