…And Speaking Of Paramilitaries
Kim du Toit
July 18, 2006
6:04 AM CDT
Radley Balko’s new book, Overkill: The Rise Of Paramilitary Police Raids can be found here.
We’re also launching an interactive map to accompany the paper. And I frankly think the map is what’s going to convince most people of the scope of this problem. I’ve plotted every botched raid I found in my research, with a description of what happened and a list of sources. You can sort the map by type of incident. So, for example, if you wanted to see only those raids where an innocent person was killed, it would look like this. If you wanted to see raids where a nonviolent offender was killed (a recreational gambler or potsmoker, for example), it would look like this. If you wanted to see all of the “wrong door” raids where no one was killed, it would look like this.
Radley and I have often been on opposing sides of various fences, but in this case, I am standing absolutely shoulder-to-shoulder with him, because he’s done an excellent job.
I detest the fact that our police forces have become miniature armies, with military weapons, armored vehicles and military tactics. No bigger wedge exists between cops and the people they serve than when cops act like an invading army (or an occupying one).
Support Radley, and buy his book. He deserves it.