Tanks, SWAT Teams, Surveillance Helicopters: Cities Already Turning Into Mini-Police States

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http://www.alternet.org/rights/153730/tanks%2C_swat_teams%2C_surveillance_helicopters%3A_cities_already_turning_into_mini-police_states_for_the_political_conventions/

Tanks, SWAT Teams, Surveillance Helicopters: Cities Already Turning Into Mini-Police States for the Political Conventions

Two cities have their hands full preparing for the upcoming Republican and Democratic National Conventions later this year. As officials in Tampa, Florida, make plans to manage an estimated 15,000 protesters expected to descend on the city during the four-day Republican gathering in August, their counterparts in Charlotte, North Carolina, are ramping up crowd-control training in the run-up to the DNC.

With the parties gathering just seven months from now, Tampa and Charlotte will spend the next half-year transforming their cities into mini-police states to manage the thousands of protesters who will carry on a long tradition of dissent at the major parties' nominating conventions.

Tampa Gears Up for RNC With Tanks and Digital Surveillance Helicopters

Last week, the Tampa City Council voted on how to spend some of the $50 million federal grant to secure Tampa for the 2012 RNC. The grant is paying for what the Tampa Bay Times describes as “the first in a series of police upgrades” that will include an armored SWAT truck and a high-tech communication system.

[BlueToTheBone]

1. Yeah, that is a clear indication of a government of, for and by

the people...NOT

[era veteran]

2. The way around the Posse Comitatus Act!

I want my cops dressed like Sheriff Andy Taylor.
This Storm Trooper shit is too Fascist for me.
A note on Fascism. In early '70's I hitchhiked to Pamplona Spain. The Guardia Civil freaked me out carrying automatic weapons.( I was in the Army so guns did not bother me except in civilian police forces.) The next year I went back, the pig dictator, Francisco Franco, was dead and the police had changed weapons. This was in the Basque region which had a considerable separatist movement so it was a big thing to scale back.