Police militarization

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Pedestrians pass a combat vehicle

One Week of Trump’s DC Takeover Attempt: An analysis of the president’s use of military, police, and security services in the nation’s capital

Detailed legal analysis of federalization of DC police and the deployment of Guard, DHS and other forces.
Members of the DC National Guard talk to a tourist outside Union Station as a storm approaches in Washington, DC, on August 17, 2025. US President Donald Trump on August 11 deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington, as he seeks to make good on his campaign pledge to be a "law and order" president. The Republican leader said he would place the city's Metropolitan Police under federal government control while also sending the National Guard onto the streets of the US capital. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump, the National Guard, and the District of Columbia: What You Need to Know

The president’s maximalist legal approach in deploying the military may well foreshadow broader use of the military in other American cities.
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) conduct a traffic stop near the U.S. Capitol

How to Truly Keep Washington, DC Safe: President Trump’s militarized approach undercuts what’s been working

The spectacle in DC is a warning: presidential authority is being stretched simply to grab power. History tells us that’s how liberty erodes.
California National Guard members stand guard outside the Federal Building as protests continue in response to federal immigration operations in Los Angeles on June 10, 2025. (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

The Mounting Crisis of Militarizing Immigration Enforcement

When part-time soldiers police their neighbors, federal authority displaces state and local officials, and strains civil-military relations.
A police officer shows a gun

What A Corrupt Police Network in the Dominican Republic Reveals About Arms Trafficking

How do arms trafficking and state corruption networks in Latin America operate, and how they can be disrupted?

The Colombian Model of Success: Civil Society and Excess Force by Anti-Riot Squads and Police Units

To counter impunity, civil society and survivors of police brutality are organizing against abuses such as eye mutilation.
Protester run trying to avoid a cloud of tear gas.

States Have an Opportunity to Lead on a Torture-Free Trade Treaty

At the global level, no legally binding agreement governs the production of and trade in law enforcement equipment. A new report by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture recommends…
People with posters surround a man speaking at a podium.

The War From Within: Racial Injustice in the US Prison System

Promoting American values abroad requires upholding them at home by addressing systemic and institutional racism.
Members of the DC National Guard are deployed outside of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. - Donald Trump's supporters stormed a session of Congress held today, January 6, to certify Joe Biden's election win, triggering unprecedented chaos and violence at the heart of American democracy and accusations the president was attempting a coup.

The Biden Administration’s Senseless Opposition to Congress’s Effort to Prevent Abusive National Guard Deployments

Section 516 of the NDAA is a commonsense reform that would prevent a president from borrowing the National Guard of a political ally to use it as a domestic police force in an…
A Misak indigenous man plays a flute in front of police officers during a protest next to the statue of Cristobal Colon on June 09, 2021 in Bogota, Colombia.

OAS Panel Catalogues Colombia’s Rights Abuses, as President Duque Doubles Down

The report and his defiance underline the need for an effective US policy rooted in defending human rights, democracy, and the peace accords.
Police fire water cannons at demonstrators. A cannon hits a demonstrator flinging them through the air. The air is orange and hazy.

Duque’s War in Colombia: High Stakes For UN, OAS, and Biden Administration as Human Rights Crisis Spins Out of Control

Amid widespread protests, continued US support for Duque will further erode implementation of the peace accords and spur deeper conflict.
Protesters carry a banner during a demonstration to press for the scrapping of Special Ant-Robbery Squad (SARS) on Abuja-Keffi Expressway, Abuja, Nigeria on October 19, 2020. The banner reads, “#EndSARA #EndPoliceBrutality Stop Killing Nigerian Youth”

Policing in Nigeria and the US: When Domestic Issues and Foreign Policy Connect

Just as America's domestic ailments are felt far and wide, Nigeria directly impacts the broader region and the continent. They can learn from each other.
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