U.S. police forces are increasingly using military-style tactics to carry out even the most routine daily operations. The number of SWAT teams and SWAT-style raids across the county has skyrocketed in the last few decades. SWAT raids occur at an estimated 50,000 raids per year and the majority that take place involve low-level crimes.
It is a trend that is being propped up by billions of federal dollars in Homeland Security grants and access to free military equipment through the Department of Defense for civilian law enforcement agencies.
Fault Lines travels to California and Tennessee to look at the effects of the increasing militarization of local law enforcement.
Original air date: February 28, 2014
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