Home   >  Support   >  Download Center   >   Drivers

But the law left a gap: who monitors how this equipment is actually used once it’s in the hands of civilian cops?

Introduction: Who Are the MTCops? In an era where police drones patrol suburban skies, the military loans armored vehicles to small-town sheriffs, and autonomous surveillance systems scan public squares, a new breed of regulator has emerged. They are neither traditional beat cops nor active-duty soldiers. They are MTCops — Military-Technology Civilian Oversight and Public Safety officers. mtcops

By 2014, the public saw images of police in camouflage handling armored vehicles in Ferguson, Missouri. The backlash was immediate and bipartisan. In response, the Obama administration issued Executive Order 13688 (later partially rescinded) restricting transfers of certain “controlled equipment” — tanks, bayonets, grenade launchers, and tracked combat vehicles. But the law left a gap: who monitors

As one veteran MTCop in Texas put it (anonymously, fearing retaliation): “I spent 12 years as an Army MP. Now I spend my days telling cops they can’t use the toys they begged for. The toys aren’t bad. But forgetting they’re military toys — that’s how democracies break.” They are neither traditional beat cops nor active-duty

The Professional Print Innovator

Mtcops //top\\ Info

But the law left a gap: who monitors how this equipment is actually used once it’s in the hands of civilian cops?

Introduction: Who Are the MTCops? In an era where police drones patrol suburban skies, the military loans armored vehicles to small-town sheriffs, and autonomous surveillance systems scan public squares, a new breed of regulator has emerged. They are neither traditional beat cops nor active-duty soldiers. They are MTCops — Military-Technology Civilian Oversight and Public Safety officers.

By 2014, the public saw images of police in camouflage handling armored vehicles in Ferguson, Missouri. The backlash was immediate and bipartisan. In response, the Obama administration issued Executive Order 13688 (later partially rescinded) restricting transfers of certain “controlled equipment” — tanks, bayonets, grenade launchers, and tracked combat vehicles.

As one veteran MTCop in Texas put it (anonymously, fearing retaliation): “I spent 12 years as an Army MP. Now I spend my days telling cops they can’t use the toys they begged for. The toys aren’t bad. But forgetting they’re military toys — that’s how democracies break.”