Raising The Police State

Picture teenagers as young as 13 years old, screaming “Put your hands up!” and “Separate your feet!” while carrying airsoft guns and practicing such scenarios as chasing illegal border crossers, taking down terrorists, facing campus mass-murderers, or raiding a marijuana field.

According to the recent NYT article Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More by Jennifer Steinhauer, these activities are part of the Explorers program, a branch of the Boy Scouts of America. In the same way that churches sponsor Boy Scout troops, Explorer posts are sponsored by local fire departments, police departments, and agencies such as the FBI. Homeland Security, and especially Border Patrol, has shaped the focus of the Explorers over the years, seeing the  program as a feeder group for future employees.

The Explorers act as mock responding officers in a variety of high-intensity law enforcement and military situations. They face role-players dressed as border crossers or someone’s idea of a typical terrorist, plus trip wire, poison gas, and surrounding sounds of gunfire.

When I was in high school, the Explorers I knew did rock-climbing, white-water rafting, caving, and long hiking excursions. It was billed as high adventure. It seems that these days, high adventure involves bad guys and enforcing laws. A.J. Lowenthal, a sheriff’s deputy who helps run Explorer events, describes the group as “about being a true-blooded American guy and girl.” This is a re-branding issue that I’m not comfortable with. If true-blooded American means daring and dangerous and making your way out in nature, I can get behind that. However, when did “American” become synonymous with shooting Mexicans and Arabs? Why does it mean cataloging and identifying an ever-growing list of bad guys?

This program also contributes to the overlap between domestic law enforcement and foreign military might. Fighting terrorism plus taking down campus mass-murderers? One of these is a military job and one is a police job, but these teens are training for them both as part of the same package. It is dangerous to confuse the two jobs, because part of the end result is that we end up declaring war on ourselves.

Moving on down the line from teenagers to small children, we find this little bit of education propaganda indoctrination:

It’s the Playmobil Police Checkpoint. Maybe to complete your set, you might also like the Playmobil SWAT Helicopter, the Police Station, or the Security Check Point for your budding Americans. I hate the idea of these, of course. They teach very young children several lessons that are objectionable to me, including that being watched/checked/poked by people with state permission to shoot you is a normal, everyday activity and that being a police officer is a normal, even admirable, job option.

Fortunately, there are plenty of people out there who can also see the dangers and absurdity in toys like these. For a lot of good laughs, check out the customer reviews on either the Police Checkpoint for the Security Check Point. Here are some of my favorite lines from the Police Checkpoint reviews:

“After searching high and low for the perfect 21st century All-American toy, I alas came across the toy that searches *you*!”

“What better way to condition your kids to accept the police state and patriot act? Last thing one needs is your kids growing up to question authority!”

“Bill of Rights sold separately.”