President Obama would have no trouble nationalizing local police departments, should he decide to do so, and it appears that his administration is moving in that direction.

Obama could effect a takeover of local police departments under cover of a crisis, real or hyped, in a sudden movement; or he could do it through attrition, though accomplishing it before he leaves office.

The move toward militarizing civilian police and bringing them under federal control is being done in the name of fairness and safety for citizens.

The “need for training police” is a phrase often used, training by government agents, with funding from government agencies.

Only a few days ago, Obama was quoted as saying that there is a need for training police so that they can understand their racial biases. He promised advice and leadership from the federal government.

And money.

Never mind that most police organizations think of themselves as being independent: like doctors, school teachers, and most other professions, local law enforcement agencies have long since sold their souls to the federal government.

It has come about largely because of greed, for money and power.

Largely beginning with Great Society-era programs, police chiefs have foamed like rabid dogs in search of money from the federal government; the practice continuing over the years, reaching a peak post-911; then soaring again under the Obama administration.

Agencies have succumbed to federal authority because of money: bureaucrats wanting more and more federal dollars; politicians wanting to distribute federal dollars to buy votes and individuals wanting to become rich using federal dollars.

In the name of greed and with a desire to “modernize” many police departments have armed themselves in a military manner.

How local police departments got huge amounts of military-type weapons and apparel is unclear. Many in the mainstream media have said it is surplus equipment supplied by the Pentagon; others say it came from private police supply companies or through grants awarded by the Department of Homeland Security.

In any case, police departments have morphed into quasi-military outfits. Military weaponry was recently on display in Ferguson, Missouri. Remember that after the Boston Marathon bombings the city looked like a blitzkrieg invasion of a city by the German army during World War II, with more modern weapons.

It means nothing to point out that the capture of one of the two surviving alleged bombers was effected by a wimpy man, who apparently defied his spouse when he went outside his home to smoke a cigarette and saw the fugitive’s hiding place, not by police in riot/raiding gear riding in steel war monsters.

Civilian police departments already mostly militarized gives the federal government a ready-made product in case the Obama administration decides to nationalize police. All that is needed are reorganizations and name changes.

Since Obama thrives on crises, numerous attacks in the United States by Muslim revolutionaries and their American allies would provide excellent cover for him to take command of local police, in the name of securing citizen safety.

No doubt citizens would feel safer, just as has happened with the birth of the Transportation Security Administration.

L. E. Brown, Jr. is a columnist based in Magnolia, N.C. Email him at [email protected]