Identified as SWAT despite the Army gear, thank you!

[Fire Walk With Me]

A military friend is telling me that this entire getup is Army.

BTW, the image is taken from last Sunday in Anaheim. He is holding an M32, which is currently in trail use with the Marines. The obvious message is "Do what we say or else". To peaceful people protesting murderous police...

http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=248

[patrice]

1. Doesn't it say Police on his chest?

[elleng]

3. Yes.

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. A veteran friend is saying all the gear is Army.

[jberryhill]

6. *snort*

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. LAPD SWAT insignia, pretentiously designed as armed forces insignia

[Llewlladdwr]

7. That would certainly explain the Army surplus gear. NT

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. That's close but not exactly it...

[SidDithers]

9. It's exactly it...nt

Sid

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. My dude...it's just the SWAT team

Here's another from the same day, but this guy has a less "camo-designed" patch.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chasecarter/7679508568/in/photostream/lightbox/

You can read "Anaheim Police SWAT" on the patch of the guy in the middle. They apparently have a patch that looks almost identical to the LAPD SWAT patch. The patch you're showing in the OP is just a "silhoutted" version of same for the camo uniform. Now, it's bad enough that the Anaheim police felt they needed the Special Weapons and Tactics crew for this partocular job, but there's no need to invent any more nefarious scenarios than that.

[Fire Walk With Me]

17. Thanks, good photo. It's just the dissonance between seeing Army weaponry

brought out against a protest against police murders and brutality. The message is certainly clear: "Do what we say or else."

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. And another you can zoom in on

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/DYe-MKiaaj8/Protests+Continue+Anaheim+Against+Police+Department/mG5Hfz2Q5w2

(Photo 12 in the batch has a good picture of the patch).

[Fire Walk With Me]

21. That's it, thanks. I can see the eagle and "SWAT". Peace!

[pinboy3niner]

10. It's not military

The question that's really disturbing concerns the effect of dressing up our cops in military combat gear.

That's what I find really scary.

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. Could it be Blackwater/Xe/Academi? And why does he have an M32?

Deeper down the rabbit hole...

[pinboy3niner]

13. Just cops--the military gear is the new paradigm

We were together, right next to each other, Fire, when we saw the LASD (L.A. Sheriff's Department) military vehicle that rolled out for the Occupy L.A. M1 Mayday protest.

We've seen those vehicles rolled out at other Occupy protests, in other cities, to intimidate.

We've posted the stories about PDs getting surplus military gear as well as the knockoffs provided by other manufacturers.

The new paradigm.

[Fire Walk With Me]

15. Yeah :(

I'm obviously not getting used to it. One protest sign seen at the Anaheim protest was "I no longer recognize this country". The sign-holder was arrested.

[pinboy3niner]

23. I'll never get used to it

Looks like you and I ought to get down there, Fire.

I used to joke with my brother about the possibility of my being arrested at an Occupy action, and his having to bail me out. Now, I have to warn him to call the hospitals, too...

[sarisataka]

12. It appears to be the SWAT patch

The lettering that circles the patch is blurred in the picture but if you look carefully you can see a very slight color difference around the edge. I believe those are the letters.

The rest of their gear does appear to be surplus or copies if army gear.

I am not sure he is carrying an M32. It could be an MGL-140, which is a predecessor. I have no hands on experience with either so cannot positively identify it..

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. Thank you. There is a better pic of the launcher he's holding but I'm having

difficulty finding it at the moment. Will post when I do.

Wondering about this one as well:

[sarisataka]

22. That is an M4 carbine

The shorter version of the M-16/AR-15. It shoots the same 5.56mm round and the magazines are interchangeable.
It would take close up observation to tell if it is semiauto, as civilian versions would be, or if it has some form of select fire,either bursts or full auto.
If it is on a standard patrol vehicle,likely same as civilian. If with SWAT, a select fire is very likely

[greyl]

18. Jeez, I almost didn't see the 3 guys in the second picture! nt

[Tunkamerica]

20. haha. those codpieces are making quite the statement as well.

[cliffordu]

24. Two of the three dickheads in the second picture need to learn

to secure their weapons.

These fucking guys look like extras in a movie of the week.

[patrice]

25. Private security co? What's with the gray scarf thingee? Fashion? Or sand blowing that day?

[randome]

26. All this angst over clothing gives new meaning to the term 'Fashion police'.

[SQUEE]

31. Militarization

This is a long and slow process of separating the power structure from us lowly peons.
Of late I note that many LEO have taken to the standard of labeling non LEO as civilians. Frighteningly, this to me implies they see themselves as, at the very least, a para military institution.

The camo uniform, choice of tactical gear and sexy accessorization of the ARs and M series I see in most of these show of force situations are used for intimidation and to cow the sheep, (they often see themselves as "sheep dogs" to protect against the wolves) AND as a recruitment tool. There was always a recruiter from many of the larger metros trying to hit up the short guys, pushing the SWAT positions and the "stick time". I was a grunt, I can tell you the Benning School for Wayward Boys is NOT the best place to look for an even handed person, interested in protecting and serving the public at large.

I spent many years in the Mil. and remember the contempt ingrained in the institution for civilians (including LEO). As the law enforcement community becomes more and more filled with actual combat vets this idea of separation will tend to grow as the thin green line takes over the blue one.

[EOTE]

32. Thanks for putting this in perspective. Welcome to DU.

Yes, this is without a doubt the militarization of our police force and bringing us ever closer to a police state. It scares me that others are not scared by this.

[raouldukelives]

33. Welcome to DU!

I sometimes think of the Norman Rockwell painting showing a young boy who has run away from home sitting at a diner counter with a policeman.
If he painted that portrait today the policeman would look more like a combat soldier and the boy would be scared half to death.
I feel like we are descending into The Most Dangerous Game territory. If someone naively puts their safety and Constitutional rights up to the discretion of the police, the punishment will be swift and unforgiving. To them it is safari land and we are the trophies that are taken if we choose to stick our neck out.

[obamanut2012]

27. Police shouldn't be allowed to dress like that

Creepy.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

28. We could save a lot of money by demilitiarizing sociopaths. nt

[ryan_cats]

29. Iraq, Afghanistan, what, LA?????

Iraq, Afghanistan, what, LA?????

The pic of the three guys makes it look like the guy on the right has a street sweeper shotgun as well as several ammo mags around his chest, at least it looks that way.

There is no reason for this except intimidation. I hope they had to go through infantry boot camp before being allowed to deploy like this. I'm sorry but a weekend at a firing range isn't enough to learn to control the weapon as well as the urge to use it. I'm a good shot at targets but I would never consider that enough training to go among unarmed people packing like they are.

[leveymg]

30. Before I saw this, I said the police are acting like an army of occupation. Eliminate "like."

That's literally what they are, and how the affected community will respond - like an occupied people. Expect levels of violent resistance to simply multiply.