![Anti-Klan Protest Police Anti-Klan Protest Police](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-041.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
The fatal shooting of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, Mo., occurred off camera. But the reaction of local police forces, in their efforts to calm the civil unrest following his Aug. 9 shooting by a Ferguson cop, has been documented by hundreds of them. Many Americans were surprised by the martial response, which had the St. Louis suburb looking more like Baghdad or Cairo. Some veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq noted that the cops appeared better-armed and outfitted in middle America than the GIs had been in the war zones. Most of the gear has come from the Pentagon, which has ended up with enormous surpluses of guns, radios, and armored vehicles following the end of the Iraq war and the winding down of the conflict in Afghanistan. Since 1997, some $4.3 billion has been given to the nation’s police forces.
The U.S. military has long tried to reduce the number of troops it needs to send to war by giving them better and more powerful weapons than potential foes. While that logic makes sense on the battlefield, where the goal is to kill the enemy, it doesn’t translate particularly well on American streets, where the goal is to preserve order. The photographs above show how police forces have girded for battle over the past half-century.
![Arresting A Rioter Arresting A Rioter](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-01a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-02a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-031.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Anti-Klan Protest Police Anti-Klan Protest Police](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-041.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Police chase demonstrator who smashed a watermelon in the st Police chase demonstrator who smashed a watermelon in the st](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-051.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Houston police officers arrest 18 August 1992 a de Houston police officers arrest 18 August 1992 a de](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-061.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Washington police officers in riot gear stand watc Washington police officers in riot gear stand watc](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-07a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Anti-war Protestors In Chicago Anti-war Protestors In Chicago](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-08a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![BUSH INAUGURATION BUSH INAUGURATION](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-09a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Pittsburgh G-20 Summit 2009 Pittsburgh G-20 Summit 2009](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-101.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![A man backs away as law enforcement officials close in on him and eventually detain him during protests over the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager killed by a police officer, in Ferguson, Mo. A man backs away as law enforcement officials close in on him and eventually detain him during protests over the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager killed by a police officer, in Ferguson, Mo.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-11a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Missouri race riot Police fire tear gas in the direction of where bottles were thrown from crowds gathered near the QuikTrip on W. Florissant Avenue on Aug. 18, 2014.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/police-militarization-ferguson-12a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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