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Only two arms of the American state, the police and the military, are generally permitted to use force to execute policy and only the police can use this power domestically. Moreover, police use of force is expected to be quantitatively and qualitatively different than that of the military. This is perhaps best summarized by the differences in their respective training materials. The first lines of US Army infantry manual describe the infantry mission as being to "close with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him" (Department of the Army, 2007). In comparison, the New York City Police Department patrol guide notes that "Respect for human life requires that in all cases firearms be used as a last resort, and then only to protect human life. Uniformed members of the service should use only the minimal amount of force necessary to protect human life" (New York City Police Department, 2013). From these two publications alone, the differences in the role of force in police and military operations seem self-apparent, though if these differences are insufficient, the capabilities of US armed forces would seem to suggest a hard divide between the police and the military.
Despite this, a growing body of literature is contesting whether these differences are so clear. This research argues that US police are increasingly adopting the technology, tactics, and cultural outlook of the armed forces, or becoming "militarized" (Kraska and Paulsen, 1996; Kraska and Kappeler, 1997; Maguire and King, 2004; Campbell and Campbell, 2010). Scholars advancing this view argue that as part of this reorientation, force is no longer seen as the last resort, but as the most effective tool for solving problems (Kraska, 2007). This is a troubling claim about the character of the police. Given their unique access to force as a tool of domestic policy, it is vital to assess the validity of claims that the police are becoming increasingly militarized.
This paper explores the research to date on militarization to assess the state of the field and the research needed to advance it. It begins by assessing how militarization has been defined and measured by researchers and explores the challenges with these definitions. It then summarizes the research on militarization to...