The militarization of the police extends into elementary and high schools as a Colorado school district spent $12,000 on semiautomatic rifles for school guards.
The budget item wasn’t a reaction to any security threats directed at the Douglas County School District. Instead, security staff didn’t want the local police to outgun them, according to The Denver Post.
“Richard Payne, director of security, said he made the decision to spend more than $12,000 on the Bushmaster ‘long guns’ in January after noting his security officers, equipped only with handguns, were training ‘hand to hand’ with the sheriff’s office, which used the larger weapons,” John Aguilar wrote.
The guns won’t be carried inside the schools, but will be kept “locked in patrol cars” in case security face a Red Dawn-type situation, apparently.
“Spray ‘n pray,” Boingboing noted.
Douglas County School Districts appears to be unique in issuing the “military-style rifles.”
It’s not as if Douglas County, a suburb of Denver, is removed from a quick emergency police response like some schools that have armed teachers. Instead, it’s an arms race to keep up with law enforcement.
Law enforcement, for decades, has girded itself with surplus military equipment, which has pushed some departments to absurdity.
“Driven by martial rhetoric and the availability of military-style equipment—from bayonets and M-16 rifles to armored personnel carriers—American police forces have often adopted a mind-set previously reserved for the battlefield,” Radley Balko wrote.
As the warrior cop has emerged, the warrior truant officer isn’t far behind.
