Rise of the Warrior Cop

A comprehensive exploration of how police forces have become militarized—both in equipment and mindset—and what that means for American democracy.

“Fascinating and at times wrenching.” ―The New Yorker

The last days of colonialism taught America’s revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement.

But over the last two centuries, America’s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: the home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as enemies.

In Rise of the Warrior Cop, journalist and author Radley Balko shows how politicians’ ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier.

This fascinating, frightening narrative that spans from America’s earliest days through to recent events shows how a creeping battlefield mentality has isolated and alienated American police officers and put them on a collision course with the values of a free society.

“Provokes genuine outrage at the misuse of state power in its most brutal and unaccountable form: heavily armed police raiding the homes of unarmed, non violent suspects on the flimsiest of pretexts, and behaving more like an occupying army in hostile territory than guardians of public safety.” —The Economist