Ep. 5311 – Wayne McElrath on the Dangerous Militarization of the Police – 7/17/2020

Scott interviews Wayne McElrath about the proliferation of military equipment in America’s police forces, and its harmful effect on police practices. McElrath describes the process by which local police departments are given “outdated” equipment from the military, like body armor, automatic weapons and armored vehicles. To prove how alarmingly easy it is to get hold of this equipment, McElrath and his team created a fake police department and submitted deliberately vague and spurious requests to the Pentagon, which were approved. McElrath contends that this militarization has a powerful effect on the psyches of police officers and on the communities they serve, making the relationship more like that of an occupying force than of a public service organization.

Check out the interview page here

For more on Scott's work:

Check out The Libertarian Institute

Read Scott's book, Fool's ErrandTime to End the War in Afghanistan

Follow Scott on Twitter using the handle @scotthortonshow

Like Scott's Facebook Page

And check out Scott's full interview archives

You can also support Scott's work by making a onetime or recurring donation at

Or you can donate per interview at Patreon