White House Ban On Militarized Gear For Police May Mean Little

When riots erupted last fall on the streets of Ferguson, Mo., police in riot gear fanned out armed with assault rifles and armored vehicles made for the battlefield.

Analysts said at the time it was just another symptom of the continued militarization of local police forces.

This week, the White House announced a series of steps intended to address the kind of policing issues brought to light by the violence in Ferguson and later in Baltimore. One of those steps bans police from obtaining some military-style equipment — including tracked armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft and high-caliber weapons — from the U.S. government.

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