Foreign Intervention, Police Militarization, and Minorities

This paper traces the roots of police militarization in the United States to a variety of foreign military interventions, including WWII and the Vietnam War. We analyze how these earlier conflicts, in conjunction with the subsequent War on Drugs and War on Terror, contributed to the militarization of domestic police. Also discussed is how the effects of police militarization disproportionately impact those individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly racial minorities.