Denver Police to Fight Violent Extremism
Denver Police Department – Colorado
So, last week I read somewhere that the Denver Police Department was given a grant of $240K in an effort to fight violent extremism.
Extremism is defined as – the holding of extreme political or religious views; fanaticism.
And it is not always easy to see at first glance.
I like many others started thinking what the justification is behind the grant?
Well here’s your answer, the funding was provided by the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to help officers “root” out extremists and to combat terrorism.
Something Denver has yet to have had any major type of issue with what so ever, right? At least on the surface right because when applying for the grant the Denver Police Department stated that in the year 2016 they had to investigate 5 cases of “potential” homegrown terrorists.
I could not find the specifics for those 5 cases and that might be due to ongoing investigations still or it could be that they were unfounded or that the department had to turn intel over to the FBI or another agency.
The application also just so happened cite previous domestic terrorism cases, which were the Columbine High School shooting, the Aurora movie theater shooting, and the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting.
With a grand finale of 2, 2014 cases of local girls being recruited by ISIS in an effort to support this grant request.
To be completely honest, those were acts of extremism, most of which were violent. Not to mention that the reality is simply that violent extremists are more often than not, home grown for one reason or another.
The issue that many take with the department being awarded the grant however is that many in the community fear more militarization of police. I completely understand the fear yet, on the other hand in today’s world I am not sure police departments have much choice.
It’s buck up or potentially get slaughtered.
At some point personally, I would expect police to be properly trained in an effort to spot and handle any potential of violent extremism, not stand on the sidelines helpless to help people like you and I.
I am excited to learn how the Denver Police Department plans to use the funds and what the training will look like.
What’s more is that I am curious to see if it will be of any help to thwart acts of violent extremism.
Violent extremism seems to be moving in an upward direction these days and it’s anyone’s guess, not if, but when the next violent mass event will take place in America.
Cristal M Clark
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What are your thoughts