The politicization of militarization: Examining military contributions to British policing

Abstract

The role of the military is often clear: identify, engage, and destroy the enemy. This is true of all conflicts throughout human history, with armies varying in complexity and scale. This function is distinct from that of policing, which aims to produce a structure to manage communities and provide public safety. The gap between these two paradigms has been rapidly reducing since 9/11, with the global threat of terrorism becoming a tool to justify increasing spending on securitization. This article speculates and debates this transition, demonstrating the key areas of discussion of targeted recruitment of military personnel or the challenge that such an approach has on the ideals of British policing. The piece hopes to examine current and historic discourse to examine whether this is a sleepwalk to authoritarian approaches or directed recruitment is simply an attempt to capture skills and talent to improve policing standards.