Philly cops attend controversial police militarization conference

Urban Shield is an annual police conference touting the newest weapons of war available to cops, including unmanned flying aircraft (or drones), combat knives, mechanized armored vehicles and sniper rifles. It’s also a highly controversial, ill-timed conference coming right after 2014′s summer riots in Ferguson, Mo., during which police militarization became an issue in the American conscience. The conference’s host city, Oakland, Cali., has said it doesn’t want them back again. This didn’t stop the Philadelphia Police Department from sending a delegation and enjoying the conference’s tactical training exercises, which occurred simultaneous to the gun show. Nor did it stop the PPD’s Joe Sullivan, who specializes in military-style response units like counterterrorism and SWAT, from tweeting about Philly’s participation in the event.

Philly Police at Urban Shield [Image: PPD’s Joe Sullivan via Twitter]

By Josh Kruger (Philly Weekly)

Urban Shield is an annual police conference touting the newest weapons of war available to cops, including unmanned flying aircraft (or drones), combat knives, mechanized armored vehicles and sniper rifles.

It’s also a highly controversial, ill-timed conference coming right after 2014′s summer riots in Ferguson, Mo., during which police militarization became an issue in the American conscience. The conference’s host city, Oakland, Cali., has said it doesn’t want them back again.

This didn’t stop the Philadelphia Police Department from sending a delegation and enjoying the conference’s tactical training exercises, which occurred simultaneous to the gun show. Nor did it stop the PPD’s Joe Sullivan, who specializes in military-style response units like counterterrorism and SWAT, from tweeting about Philly’s participation in the event.

Full Story at Philadelphia Weekly: Philly cops attend controversial police militarization conference