Today, Doug and I pick up that conversation. But this time, Doug shares his thoughts on the militarization of US police departments. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

Justin: Doug, yesterday you called out anti-drug lawmakers, or what you called "drug warriors," for their immense hypocrisy and stupidity. But what about the growing number of "warrior cops" who seem to view the United States as their own personal battleground?

Doug: I started writing about the militarization of American police back in the 1990s, when it started happening in earnest. And it's very disturbing, because the way a solider deals with the enemy is necessarily quite different from the way the police are supposed to deal with citizens.

The US has these numerous continuing wars around the world, so they wind up with lots of spare military equipment. And what to do with it? They bring it home and give it to the police because they think it might be helpful. And then, driving APCs and wearing body armor, the police get the wrong idea.