The 1981 kids’ book Future War and Weapons by Neil Ardley is filled with the bleaker side of futurism. It’s chock full of colorful illustrations of robot armies, war in space, and fallout shelters. But we also get a brief look at the police of tomorrow — police that, while certainly armed, don’t look quite like the military force that they’ve become in modern American cities.
The police in Ardley’s illustration are largely there as a back-up force, assisting the military as they confront airline hijackers. Nowhere in the book do we see police laying siege to an American city with tear gas, LRADs, and high-powered weapons as they arrest members of the media and assault civilians.
https://gizmodo.com/what-tear-gas-does-to-its-victims-1621571660
Below, we have a small sample of photos from the police occupation of Ferguson, Missouri over the past few days. I guess they got the helmet part right. But we certainly don’t see police wearing those stylish [Member’s Only?] jackets that Ardley’s book promised.
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Getty Images/ Scott Olson
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Getty Images/ Scott Olson
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
