Militarized Police: Lessons From The 1971 STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT

[TrollBuster9090]

For those of you familiar with the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971, you'll understand the obvious. If you dress cops up like an occupying army, very soon they'll start THINKING of themselves as an occupying army; as will the people in the neighborhoods they patrol.

In the Stanford University Experiments of 1971 a group of students were randomly assigned to be either a prisoner, or a prison guard. The prisoners had to wear prison gowns, and the guards wore the usual guard uniform, complete with sun glasses and night stick. The experiment didn't last long, because it wasn't long before both groups got so into their roles that the guards were becoming brutal, and the inmates were becoming resistant and rebellious. The experiment had to be terminated.

Simple lesson: If you dress community police up as an occupying army, they'll start acting like one; and the neighborhoods they patrol will start acting like an occupied country.