Recently, the issue of the militarization of the police force has become a major issue in the media. Following the events in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland, the issue has become very relevant; Is it right for the police force to use military equipment? The debate had two very clear sides with very few in between. The issue concerns the police's use of bayonets, armored vehicles, shields, tear gas and gas masks. On Monday, May 18, 2015, in Camden, New Jersey, Barack Obama and his administration moved to ban federal agencies from providing police officers with certain types of military equipment, such as grenade launchers, large-caliber weapons and bayonets. This came after controversy over a militarized police response to last summer's riots and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri (Perez, Liptak, & Malloy, 2015). Even with these restrictions, police forces are still able to purchase this banned equipment from private sellers. This issue of militarization of police forces and many other criminal justice issues, such as; Mandatory minimum sentences, overcrowded prisons and bloated criminal justice budgets have become a bipartisan issue. Jonathan Blanks' book, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces, examines all of these issues, but focuses primarily on the militarization of police forces and the rise of the "warrior cop." Blanks suggests that the rise of the warrior policeman began as early as patrols in ancient Rome, shire reeves in medieval England, and slave patrols in the antebellum South (Blanks, 2014). Over the past 40 years, there has been a dramatic shift from police officers patrolling neighborhoods on foot to aggressive squads of police officers issuing warrants on... middle of paper ... ...ization of police forces police. Some believe that militarization helps make police forces more effective, while others see the militarization of police forces as a negative that is harmful to people living in areas affected by militarization. The recent riots in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland have caused the issue to become a hot topic in the media. The Obama administration's move banning federal agencies from providing police forces with grenade launchers, large-caliber weapons and bayonets is a response to media outcry over military equipment used in the riots in Ferguson and Baltimore. Even with Obama leveraging this equipment for the police force, the question remains whether the police force will still be able to purchase this equipment from private sellers. Police forces should be allowed to use any police equipment??