Militarization of Law Enforcement in the US
Militarization of Law Enforcement in the US Paper
Robert Hinton
ADJ 201 Criminology
Militarization of Law Enforcement in the US
More than 20 years ago this year, America was witness to one of the most intense gun
battles in LAPD history, a gun battle that many law enforcement historians would say was worse
than the 1969 LAPD SWAT gun battle that resulted in thousands of rounds being fired during the
take down of a Black Panthers headquarters by the newly established LAPD SWAT team. Two
armed robbers walked into a Bank of America in a North Hollywood neighborhood with the
intent of robbing it and making a clean get away. However, these where no ordinary robbers,
Larry Phillips Jr, and Emil Matasareanu where two criminals with an extensive past, and an
arsenal of weapons that local law enforcement had never encountered before in their day to day
workings. What makes this event more important in the context of the militarization of Law
Enforcement is this is one of the few events in Law Enforcement history to this date, where
regular patrol officers would be the initial responders and would face firepower of this
