From broken windows to broken bonds: Militarized police and social fragmentation

Policing Through Subsidized Firepower: An Assessment of Rational Choice and Minority Threat Explanations of Police Participation in the 1033 Program*

“…Even though there is a growing body of scholars who argue that participation in the 1033 Program makes an excellent test case for theories of police militarization (Ajilore, ; Bove and Gavrilova, ; Dansky, ; Delehanty et al., ; Harris et al., ; McQuoid and Vitt, ; Radil, Dezzani, and McAden, ), it is not an exhaustive indicator of police militarization . We focus on the 1033 Program, however, because accessing materiel such as weaponry, vehicles, and uniforms is an early and often necessary step for many LEAs toward further militarization in the dimensions of language and terminology, organizing using military principles, and practicing military‐style tactics (Ajilore, ; Insler, McMurray, and McQuoid, ; Kraska, ; Phillips, ). Moreover, the fact that the 1033 Program provides free materiel allows resource‐poor LEAs the capacity to create PPUs and emulate policing efforts that may otherwise only occur in larger, better resourced departments (Dansky, ; Radil, Dezzani, and McAden, ).…”

“…Even though Kraska's () four‐dimensional framework offers a comprehensive understanding of police militarization as a sociological phenomenon, we focus our study most heavily on the first dimension: the material use of military technology and equipment. Specifically, we explore the determinants of police acquisition of military‐grade communications and transportation equipment, military fatigues, firearms, and ordinance preferred by modern militaries (i.e., materiel; Bove and Gavrilova, ; Bieler, ; Harris et al., ; Insler, McMurrey, and McQuoid, ; Kraska and Kappeler, ; Phillips, ). Our focus on this first dimension is motivated by the fact that such materiel makes LEAs more capable of participating (and dominating) in violent confrontations, which is a fundamental aspect of Kraska's () conceptualization of militarization.…”

Police militarization in theUnited States

“…Other studies of the 1033 Program participation suggest more detrimental impacts though. Insler, McMurrey, and McQuoid (2016) found that increases in the value of the 1033 Program materials obtained were associated with increases in the LEAlevel counts of police killings but not with increases in the odds of a police killing occurring. Such findings suggest that increases in police militarization via the acquisition of DoD materials may produce social harms in the form of both overpolicing and reducing social solidarity in communities, which can contribute to criminogenic conditions (Peterson & Krivo, 2010).…”

“…Other studies of the 1033 Program participation suggest more detrimental impacts though. Insler, McMurrey, and McQuoid () examined family‐level charitable giving using data from the 2001–2013 U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics and found that state‐level increases in the value of the 1033 Program materials issued to LEAs reduced charitable donations made by Black families but not those made by White families. Insler et al suggest that such findings may indicate that the 1033 Program participation has a negative effect on social solidarity in the United States.…”

Public Opinion About Police Weapons and Equipment: An Exploratory Analysis

“…Police use of such equipment raises particularly stark questions about civil liberties when officers deploy them to manage mass protests rather than hostage situations (Maguire, 2015). A growing body of empirical evidence suggests that police militarization has little effect on crime rates and may generate negative collateral consequences (Gunderson et al, 2019;Insler et al, 2019;Lawson, 2019;Masera, 2019;Mummolo, 2018).…”