Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said he was “disturbed” by some of the actions taken by police in Ferguson, MO on Thursday’s “CNN Tonight.”
“I was a bit disturbed by some of the stuff I saw,” he said. “You had some, it appeared to be special operations command-type people with long arms at the ready, at the fire ready pointing weapons at people that were obviously unarmed. You don’t aim a weapon like that at someone unless you’re prepared to shoot. Some of the stuff I saw last night was pretty disturbing.”
Kerik added that there is larger problem of “militarization” of the police, declaring “this goes to the whole militarization of our police agencies. Look, there is a use for it. It’s something is required and needed in certain agencies. But in my own county in New Jersey, where I live we have departments [of] 10, 15 men, [with] 20 people on a department, and they want a SWAT team. It’s almost like they want to be dressed up with nowhere to go. And it’s something I disagree with.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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