About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

30 Akron L. Rev. 619 (1996-1997)
Can Soldiers Be Peace Officers - The WACO Disaster and the Militarization of American Law Enforcement

handle is hein.journals/aklr30 and id is 629 raw text is: CAN SOLDIERS BE PEACE OFFICERS? THE WACO DISASTER AND THE MILITARIZATION OF AMERICAN LAW ENFORCEMENT by DAVID B. KOPEL * and PAUL M. BLACKMAN ** I. INTRODUCTION One of the most significant trends of federal law enforcement in the last fifteen years has been its militarization. The logical, perhaps inevitable, conse- quence of that militarization was seen in the disaster at Waco, Texas, resulting in the deaths of four federal agents, and seventy-six other men, women, and chil- dren. In this article, we use the Waco tragedy as a starting point to examine the militarization of federal law enforcement, and similar trends at the state and local level. Part Two of this article sets forth the details and rationale of the Posse Comitatus Act--the 1878 law forbidding use of the military in law enforcement. Part Three explicates how that Act was eroded by the drug war in the 1980s. The article then discusses how the drug exception to the Posse Comitatus Act was used to procure major military support for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) raid against the Branch Davidians-even though there was no real drug evidence against them-and how the drug exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act have made such abuses endemic. Part Four examines the fifty-one day FBI siege of the Branch Davidian residence, with a focus on the destructive role played by the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, an essentially military force which has proved counterproductive in a civilian law enforcement context. * Research Director, Independence Institute. B.A., Brown University; J.D., University of Michigan. This article is based on, but revised from, a chapter of the authors' book No MORE WACOS: WHAT'S WRONG WITH FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND HOW TO FIX IT (Prometheus Books, 1997). The Independence Institute world-wide web site, at <http://i2i.org> includes a Waco page offering a wide variety of Waco resources. ** Research Coordinator, National Rifle Association. B.A., University of California at Riverside; Ph.D., University of Virginia. The views expressed in this article are the authors' alone, and do not necessarily reflect the position of any organization, including the National Rifle Association or the Independence Institute.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most