Based on the findings from a report released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in June 2014 and entitled “War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing”, which looked at thousands of documents from police departments across the country, Ezekiel Edwards, the director of the ACLU’s criminal law reform project, says needlessly deploying Swat teams is part of a trend among nationwide police forces which “increasingly [see] themselves as military tactical units”. Instead of being protected, communities are treated like the enemy, the report found – with a disproportionate effect on communities of color. More here.