How America Turned Its Police Into an Army: An Economic Analysis of Police Militarization and Its Societal Costs

Dr. Benga Agile Ori, an associate professor of economics, explores the multifaceted issue of police militarization in the United States, moving beyond anecdotal evidence to present a comprehensive economic analysis. He highlights the pervasive nature of police violence, exemplified by cases like Daniel Shaver, and connects it to the increasing acquisition of military-style weapons and body armor by local law enforcement. A key finding from his preliminary research indicates a positive relationship between the acquisition of military surplus items, often through programs like the Pentagon's 1033 program, and an increase in fatal police encounters. This suggests that the mere presence of military equipment may contribute to more aggressive police behavior and a higher likelihood of lethal force.

The analysis delves into four critical dimensions of militarization: material (actual equipment), cultural (language like 'war on drugs' or 'war on terror'), operational (tactics such as no-knock raids), and organizational (normalization through SWAT teams and specialized units). Dr. Ori emphasizes that focusing solely on the 1033 program, which deals with material acquisition, provides an incomplete picture. A significant challenge in studying this phenomenon is the lack of comprehensive data, particularly on how acquired military items are actually used and the overall prevalence of police violence. He also notes a concerning trend where ethnically fragmented communities tend to acquire more military items, suggesting potential disparities in militarization.

From an economic perspective, Dr. Ori advocates for a holistic approach that considers not only the potential benefits of militarization, such as crime reduction, but also its full social costs. He argues that society must weigh the cost-benefit trade-offs, including the impact on police officers' behavior, the erosion of trust in police-citizen relationships, and the broader societal implications. The goal is to understand the complete impact of militarization to foster constructive discussions about public safety and how to achieve it without compromising community well-being.

Finally, the podcast touches upon the importance of 'new economic thinking,' which encourages a broader, more inclusive approach to economic analysis. Dr. Ori posits that by diversifying the perspectives within the field of economics, researchers can develop richer and more robust answers to complex societal problems like police militarization. This expanded viewpoint allows for a more nuanced understanding of both the benefits and costs, moving beyond simplistic 'good or bad' assessments to inform more effective and equitable public policy.

what's it about doing research on police militarization and police behavior is that we have these stories unfortunately every day about police violence and I was just thinking about the story of Daniel shaver the young man from Mesa who was shot by officer in a hotel room and they had body camera video and that officer had an ar-15 which is a military style weapon and he had body armor and you could just see in that video how aggressive how almost that the officer wanted to kill him

cities that have more diverse really want to use the word diverse but more ethnically fragmented communities tend to have larger acquisition of militarism military items

the 1033 program was started in 1989 but really kind of built up in 1997 and in 2006 is when agencies really started to acquire surplus items

there's kind of four dimensions that we can look at material cultural organizational operational

while we have information about what they acquire we don't know how they use it

some relationships that I do find is that there actually is a positive relationship that we see that acquisition of more these items lead to more fatal police encounters

we need to ask about basically the social cost of militarization so that we understand okay if it lowers crime at what cost are we willing to bear that cost

what is it doing to our officers what's what is it doing officers but the relationship between police and citizens and is that kind of what we want

economics is about answering questions and understanding you know the full impact both benefit and cost

instead of looking at one aspect and saying yes you know we should get rid of it because it causes police violence or no it lowers crime so we need to do it it's like no let's take both of it together

as we broaden the base of who could become an economist we could be able to broaden new economic thinking and therefore come up with different answers and kind of better richer more robust answers to society's problems