Plugging the Security Gap or Springing a Leak: Questioning the Growth of Paramilitary Policing in US Domestic and Foreign Policy

Over the past two decades the US has experienced an explosion of paramilitary policing at home and a resurgence of its support for paramilitary policing abroad. However, this unprecedented growth in paramilitary policing has not coincided with a commensurate debate on its relative merits. By bridging the disciplinary divide between criminal justice studies and security studies, this article aims to provide a foundation for such a debate. It argues that although paramilitary police forces may be capable of plugging the so-called "security gap," an unintended consequence of their creation may be a more general militarization of traditional forms of democratic policing at home and abroad.