Unlike others I doubt it has much to do with race and more to do with ego and power tripping in general. Toss in a bunch of guilt tripping the public and they can pretty much spend loads of money and be more bad ass than the town next door or comparable towns across the country. Oh I hear NYC has this many X, well we can get more!!!

The police state relies on the same imagery and intimidation that politicians use, they will use hyperbole and such to guilt you into agreement. Its for the children, you don't want cops to die, and drugs are bad. They will point to the gangs in the inner cities and proof of their need all the while ignoring it is government programs which create them. From idling so many young men and women with freely distributed benefits, tossing them out of schools for the slightest infraction, and having them living in concrete ghettos, they have created a real mess.

For those who haven't been idled for a long time it may be hard to understand the amount of frustration that builds, when you can really go no where and everyday is just the same any outlet is eventually considered.

Frankly, cops should not have access to weapons any more dangerous than anyone in the public should have. They don't need automatic weapons and certainly not grenade launchers.