counterpunch | Calls for de-militarization of law enforcement have gained new
momentum in the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality.
That process won’t be easy in a nation where nearly one fifth of all
cops are military veterans — including Derek Chauvin, George Floyd’s
killer in Minneapolis and Robert McCabe, one of two officers charged
with felony assault for knocking down a 75-year-old protester in
Buffalo.
When loaded down with cast-off Pentagon gear, police officers from
any background are more likely to regard peaceful protestors as enemy
combatants, particularly when the Pentagon’s own top official refers to
their protest scenes as “battle space.” But studies show that employing
people with experience in war zones abroad has not been a boon to
“community policing” either. Getting police departments to stop acting
like an occupying army will require many fundamental changes, including
much closer screening of job applicants who are veterans and ending
their preferential hiring treatment.
Policing is currently the third most common occupation for men and
women who have served in the military. It is an option widely encouraged
by career counsellors and veterans’ organizations like the American Legion. As
a result, several hundred thousand veterans are now wearing a badge of
some sort. Although veterans comprise just 6 percent of the US
population, they represent 19 percent of all law enforcement personnel.
This disproportionate representation is due, in part, to preferential
hiring requirements, mandated by state or federal law. In addition,
under the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice provided local
police departments with tens of millions of dollars to fund
veterans-only positions.
As noted [EF1] by the Marshall Project, in its 2017 report, “When
Warriors Put On the Badge,” this combination of hiring preferences and
special funding has made it harder to “build police forces that resemble
and understand diverse communities.” The beneficiaries have been
disproportionately white, because 60 percent of all enlisted men and
women are not people of color.
