WTF? NYPD to Permanently Patrol Protests with Machine Guns
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Bully_Pulpit
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theantimedia.org/nypd-to-permanently-patrol-protests-with-machine-guns/NEW YORK, NY- NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced Thursday that 350 heavily armed NYPD officers, called the “Strategic Response Group,” will soon be patrolling protests and the city at large.
He said the new strain of hyper-armed police will be
“…equipped and trained in ways that our normal patrol officers are not. They’ll be equipped with all the extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns — unfortunately sometimes necessary in these instances.”
Bratton announced their purpose is specifically
“…designed for dealing with events like our recent protests, or incidents like Mumbai or what just happened in Paris.”
Lumping protesters in with terrorists, he said the permanent force will deal with “disorder control and counterterrorism protection capabilities.” It will allegedly assist on crime scenes and help with “crowd control and other large-scale events.”
It is not unusual for authorities to ramp up “security” efforts following attacks (such as the ax attack against officers in October), but the idea of machine-gun clad officers is disturbing, especially considering past NYPD abuses of protesters and other residents.
The federal government, which has attempted to feign concern with police brutality, is partially funding the militarized venture. The Department of Homeland Security is supplying resources, as is the city of New York. The Pentagon has previously provided machine guns, ammuniton, and other military gear to New York police and other local cops around the country.
The program is set to begin with two precincts in Queens and two in Manhattan, though Bratton did not specify when. During the announcement at a Police Foundation breakfast at the Mandarin Hotel, Bratton also said his plan was backed by both Mayor Bill de Blasio (who came under fire from cops last year) and the city council.
He said the effort is intended to improve police relations with communities since “regular” police will no longer be called from their local precincts to deal with protests and alleged security threats:
“For years we’ve been asking our officers to engage in the community, but we’ve never given them time to do it, or the training.”
Such “crises” will now be handled by the machine gunning cops (machine guns are banned for private citizens). Bratton has also previously asked the city for more tasers to “improve relations” by reducing fatal shootings.
In his Thursday announcement, Bratton additionally called on the MTA to install cameras on all subways-for safety, of course.
Unsurprisingly, there is outrage against the proposed plan. Priscilla Gonzalez, Organizing Director of Communities United for Police Reform, said Bratton’s
“…demands for less oversight of the NYPD and a more militarized police force that would use counter-terrorism tactics against protesters are deeply misguided and frankly offensive. We need an NYPD that is more accountable to New Yorkers and that stops criminalizing our communities, especially when people are taking to the streets to voice legitimate concerns about discriminatory and abusive policing. Despite growing evidence that discriminatory broken windows is a failed and harmful policing strategy, Commissioner Bratton stubbornly continues to defend and expand it.”
The move comes as crime has dropped in New York and the police ticket-writing boycott in protest of Mayor de Blasio led to no increase in conflict.
Comments
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The user and all related content has been deleted.
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If this ain't a ? man.
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Watch one of them guns accidentally go off smh
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In other words "jump bad if u want"
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The thing is I'm not surprised by any of this anymore.
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The NYPD can barely shoot the regular guns they have, and now Bratton wants to give 350 of these poorly trained, trigger happy half-wits ? ' MACHINE GUNS?!?
? better start investing in body armor. The other shoe just dropped. -
Yeah, respond to peaceful protests over the heavy handed actions of the police by taking a heavier handed action. Makes perfect sense.
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Smh and all this leads to is more innocent people that don't have anything to do with this will get shot.
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The user and all related content has been deleted.
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Lol.
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How much are bulletproof vests?
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Not surprising, after all Pat Lynch said that the NYPD is "war time department. So if you're fighting a war, you need to have your troops properly armed to fight that war.
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not this again! wrote: »The NYPD can barely shoot the regular guns they have, and now Bratton wants to give 350 of these poorly trained, trigger happy half-wits ? ' MACHINE GUNS?!?
? better start investing in body armor. The other shoe just dropped.
No need for armor they head shooting -
He sounds like the type of ? to throw some water on a grease fire.
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He sounds like the type of ? to throw some water on a grease fire.
More like gasoline. -
and you wonder why community relations between NYPD and minorities are at an all time low.. Basically broken beyond repair. Getting worse and worse by the minute..
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AFTER MASSIVE BACKLASH, NYPD SCRAPS PLAN TO USE MACHINE GUNS AT PROTESTSAlice Walker said that “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
With this concept at work (in reverse), citizens of New York and the United States successfully intimidated the NYPD from implementing a terrifying policy. Last Friday, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced that a new unit, the “Strategic Response Group,” would be permanently policing protests and dealing with terrorist threats.
He said,
“It is designed for dealing with events like our recent protests, or incidents like Mumbai or what just happened in Paris.”
Bratton boasted that,
“They’ll be equipped and trained in ways that our normal patrol officers are not…They’ll be equipped with all the extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns—unfortunately sometimes necessary in these instances.”
He explained in no uncertain terms:
“The officers will have a dedicated mission of protecting locations and being able to assist us in dealing with demonstrations.”
The news understandably prompted outrage from the media, groups and citizens around the country, especially considering that the NYPD has inflicted enough violence and brutality against peaceful protesters without the use of machine guns.
Only a day later, the NYPD backtracked and confirmed they will not be using the new police unit for protests. Chief of Department, James O’Neill, said
“They will not be involved in handling protests and demonstrations. They’ll have no role in protests. Their response is single-fold. They’ll be doing counter-terror work. They’ll be assigned to different posts throughout the city.”
The expedient backlash demonstrates the power of paying attention. Though most Americans tune out depressing and outrageous news, the simple act of watching (and reacting to) the watchers has proven effective at stopping some of the grosser infringements by police.
Following last summer’s outrage over police brutality and militarization after Ferguson, many police departments attempted to return military gear granted to them by the federal government. Though they were met with extreme difficulties, departments listened to the views of those they “protect and serve.” Some had even done so before the Ferguson protests. Similarly, the city of Los Angeles has, for the time being, backed off on a plan to police the skies with drones — all thanks to outrage from the community (in a non-police example, outrage over internet censorship also forced Congress to halt SOPA and PIPA).
Of course, the small win in New York does not undo the vast encroachments by police on a macro level. Cops can still ? protesters and regular citizens with piddly old handguns and batons if they so desire. They can pepper spray to their hearts’ content. In fact, should they declare protesters “terrorists” (not uncommon with the federal government, which is partially funding the Strategic Response Group through the DHS), the machine guns will likely be entirely “justified” in the eyes of authorities.
The threat of non-violent activities being deemed terroristic is real: in Montana, a group promoting peace and love was recently deemed associated with terrorism by local police and you guessed it, the Department of Homeland Security. A 9-year-old boy was recently accused of terrorism for bringing a Lord of the Rings ring to school and acting out scenes from the film.
As long as there is government there will be violations of freedom, but the mafioso NYPD’s apparent trepidation in the face of protest demonstrates that if more people pay attention, the state will be less emboldened to exploit and oppress them.
Beautiful. That's what im talking about. -
Still haven't seen an instance where this is necessary. Show me ONE. Machine guns wouldn't have saved the officers killed and NO ONE PROTESTING has been shooting at officers. The show of force usually dictates the use of force!