Right now, there’s an armed group of people reigning terror across the US. They number in their thousands, they prey mainly on the lower classes and they don’t discriminate between adults and children. This year they have killed a staggering 785 people so far. In July alone, their “kill tally” was a terrifying 121, for August it was 104 and by the end of September 1st, they had already killed 4 more people (source Guardian). So who is this highly capable group of terrorists and what is the US Government doing to stop them? You would think at the very least there would be a heightened police presence across the country to reassure the people of the United States that the Government is “on the case”. The reality however, is that a heightened police presence is exactly the opposite of what the US people want. Why? Because it is the Police themselves that are killing these vast numbers of people across the United States of America.

This is not a new phenomenon. In fact last year, according to a number of sources, this trigger happy police force were responsible for the deaths of over a 1000 of their own citizens (try killedbypolice.net if you would like a more detailed report). The FBI’s official figures incidentally, state just 400. However it was the killing of Michael Brown, an un-armed, college bound teen with no criminal record in August 2014 that really put a spotlight on the “shoot now and ask no questions later” policy. The US Police have always vehemently justified their right to shoot people if they feel in any kind of danger. However there are now countless eye witness accounts and video footage of incidents where this “right” has been grossly abused and yet bizarrely the courts do very little to punish the killers. The result is that the US Police Force itself, is now responsible for 1 in every 13 gun deaths in its own country each year (source The Washington Post).

But “death by police shooting” is not exclusive to the United States. Just last week in Enfield, North London – a 43 year old man was shot and killed by armed police for allegedly wielding a firearm, so are we any different? Could we be just a few years away from the UK Police force being a bigger threat to the general public than criminals themselves? Tasers are already commonplace and have been used on people from as young as 13 all the way through to the over 80s. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that armed Police are now regularly being dispatched to routine callouts such as domestic incidents, road accidents and minor skirmishes. One force alone – Thames Valley Police in south-east England, deployed officers with handguns to 8,709 routine jobs last year (source The Times). These call-outs make up the majority of work for many of the country’s 6,000 armed officers, according to a Freedom of Information request. So is this a case of stretched budgets meaning armed officers having to take on a more general policing role or is there an undercover strategy to fully arm and “Americanise” the police by stealth?

There is of course the argument that the moral decline of society is making the job of the Police Force ever more difficult. But surely the answer to that is to end society’s moral decline. This way we don’t need to “tool up” the Police Force to deal with ever more dangerous situations. As it stands, a fully armed Police Force is an inevitable part of our future, but it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s time for politicians, faith leaders and community figures to highlight the dangers of sleep walking into a Police State. It’s time for them to lead by example, stop seeking the popular vote and bring about societal change to save us all.

But, utimately, it’s down to you and I to get involved and make a voice of reason heard above the noise. We get the society and the police force that we allow our leaders to impose on us. Give a man a uniform and a gun and he seems more than happy to use it. 785 American families with relatives killed by police have learned the outcome of that strategy this year.

Until next time.