THE SWAT-IFICATION
OF AMERICA
HUFFINGTON
03.31.13
TIM SLOAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
BATTLEFIELD
TACTICS
AT YOUR
FRONT DOOR
A U.S. Capitol
Police SWAT
team storms
into the House
Canon Office
building after
reports of a gun
getting through
security. It
turned out to
be a toy gun on
a Halloween
costume.
HE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES
UNION (ACLU) has launched a
nationwide campaign to assess
police militarization in the United
States. ACLU affiliates in 23 states
are sending open records requests
to hundreds of state and local police
agencies requesting information about
their SWAT teams, such as how often and
for what reasons they’re deployed, what
types of weapons they use, how often
citizens are injured during SWAT raids,
and how they’re funded. More affiliates
may join the effort in the coming weeks.