I just want to highlight and second a very intelligent piece on the homepage by Karl Marlantes, who argues against the trend of cops and other law enforcement getting dressed up like military forces:
Over the years, I have uneasily watched the increasing adoption of combat uniforms by law enforcement. This includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and their leaders, who in Minnesota and other regions go around dressed like Marines about to invade Fallujah. A number of factors surely contributed to the recent killings of two Americans by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, but the warrior aesthetic these forces have adopted should not be overlooked for its potential role in heightening tensions. Dressing up like a warrior going into combat can make one behave more like one. What people wear can have psychological effects.
I couldn’t agree more. Robert Peel created modern police forces and wanted them to be seen as an arm of the public itself, as an extension of our will and consent for the law to be enforced. Other free countries call their police forces “guards” as a shorthand for “guardians of peace” — meant very precisely to distinguish them from occupying military forces. Too much military gear on our police has a demoralizing psychological effect on us — it habituates all of us to see our neighborhoods as battle zones — and it can warp the attitude of law enforcement as well.