Nat’l Police Union Expects Trump to Bring Back Racial Profiling, Lift Ban on Militarized Police

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

One phrase comes to mind when reading the newly proposed list of expectations from the National Fraternal Order of Police of President-elect Trump — This won’t end well.

The FOP is the largest police union in America, boasting more than 330,000 members, across 2,200 departments. This month, they began circulating an internal document meant to define their expectations of the Trump presidency. The expectations are nothing short of pro-police state and anti-freedom.  

In the document, the union attempts to distance themselves from the notion that this is an actual list of demands, but their intent is unmistakable as the FOP publicly proclaimed their unwavering support of the Trump presidency prior to the elections.

The list ends with the following ‘disclaimer’:

This document is a predictive summary of potential actions that the Trump Administration may take in its first 100 days and is based on statements from the campaign and media reports up to the time the document was distributed to FOP members. It is not an advocacy document and does not represent the FOP’s agenda for the first 100 days of the incoming Administration. It is an advisory to our members as to what may happen when the new Administration takes over

However, the newly proposed list, titled, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: The First 100 Days, lays out the police agenda quite clearly with a prediction of executive action to reinstate so many of the tyrannical practices overturned by the last two administrations.

While Obama was certainly no champion of freedom, his administration was forced to respond to the ugly face of police militarization after it was exposed in Ferguson, Mo.

Citing the wars on drugs and terror to rationalize their actions, federal assistance from the DOD’s 1033 Program and the DOJ’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant has been escalating the militarization of American police forces — for decades.

By sidestepping the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the U.S. government has blurred the divisions between the military and the police, and the result came to a head as Ferguson quickly began to resemble a military occupation rather than an American city. This was before the Ferguson riots too.

After the police state reared its ugly head, the administration was forced to act and EO 13688 was passed establishing the federal interagency Law Enforcement Equipment Working Group (LEEWG) to develop recommendations to improve federal support for the appropriate use, acquisition and transfer of controlled equipment by state, local and tribal Law Enforcement Associations.

In other words, the wholesale acquisition of grenade launchers, .50 caliber firearms, Bayonets, tracked armored vehicles, mine-resistant vehicles, amphibious assault vehicles, Apache attack helicopters, and a slew of other entirely unnecessary equipment for domestic police operations was slowly throttled.

This infuriated the police union who perceived it as an attack on their ability to issue tickets, enforce the immoral war on drugs, and conduct day to day silencing of dissent in general.

Trump, who ran on a pro-police platform, is expected by the FOP to undo this throttling of military gear and release the torrent that is the US police state back to its full status. In the very first bullet on their list, the FOP makes clear their number one expectation:

Pledged to rescind Executive Order 13688 which imposed limits on State and local law enforcement equipment programs throughout the Federal government

But that’s just the beginning.

Because of its highly ineffective and racist undertones, even the warmongering Bush administration issued a federal ban on racial profiling. In 2003, for the first time in history, 70 law enforcement arms in the US were barred from using someone’s racial makeup in decisions on law enforcement. For example, a team of drug war enforcers could not focus on a single neighborhood for narcotics enforcement based on the race of the occupants. The end of profiling was a small victory for those who found themselves under the thumb of government because of their race.

However, Trump and the FOP hope and expect to overturn this practice of persecuting individuals over their skin color. In the last bullet on their list, the FOP wrapped up their potential actions with the end of the ban on racial profiling.

Reverse or amend the broad, Bush-era ban on racial profiling by all or some Federal agencies

Among their other expectations, the FOP notes that Trump should reverse the position of the Federal government on the use of private prisons too.

In a stunning turn of events, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in August it will no longer use private prisons to incarcerate federal prisoners, deeming the notorious for-profit facilities both less safe and less effective in providing correctional services than those operated by the government.

“They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security,” Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates explained in the announcement.

Immediately following the announcement that they would lose their tax-subsidized cash cow, prison stocks plummetted.

Equally troubling is the call for a 2-year mandatory minimum Federal prison sentence:

for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying.

This is yet another ‘yuge’ giveaway to the prison industry as it would force the federal government to use and build more private prisons just to house the massive number of immigrants caught reentering the US.

The Free Thought Project spoke to a border patrol agent who called the provision a ‘nightmare,’ noting that it would create massive prison camps across the country as well as insane costs for housing these individuals.

So, there you have it. The Trump presidency, according to the police, is the creation, growth, and subsidization of the most massive police state the world has ever known.

Dear libertarians who voted for Trump, regret that decision yet?
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/natl-police-union-demands-trump-bring-back-racial-profiling-lift-ban-militarized-police/#SBCxL4H2pHoAvzdy.99