Assistant Professor of Government Erica De Bruin published an essay titled “Police Militarization and its Political Consequences” in the spring issue of the American Political Science Association’s Comparative Politics Newsletter.
The essay documents the spread of riot squads, tactical units, and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Teams in police forces around the globe, and identifies the political consequences of increasing police militarization. According to De Bruin, police forces can leverage their coercive power to extract resources from the state, prevent police reform, and even pressure leaders from office. She argues that militarization increases both the capacity and willingness of police to exercise this power.
This is the second essay De Bruin has published based on research conducted with Levitt Center summer and winter research groups that included Max Gersch ’23, Alexander Nemeth ’22, Jenny Tran ’22, Huzefah Umer ’21, Nicole Eisenberg ’21, Diana Perez ’21, and Greg Varney ’22.
