Perilous

After months of work, my reporting partner Andrew Becker and I are live with another story about the war on terror. A shorter version appears today on the Newsweek/Daily Beast site. The complete story can be found here, accompanied by a full package of amazing multimedia material assembled with help from our incomparable team at the Center for Investigative Reporting. There’s a map, a timeline and a slideshow of photos from our reporting trips to Chicago and Fargo. (Follow the center on Tumblr while you’re at it.) Here’s a glimpse of the story:

More than ever before, local police across the U.S. have transformed into small army-like forces using billions in grants from the federal government. With body armor and other tactical apparel, many officers now look more like combat troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan than cops on the beat. The list of equipment purchased by even small towns reads like a defense-contractor catalog: assault rifles, flash grenades, even tanks and surveillance drones. And they are expanding their stockpiles, despite, in many cases, the lack of an apparent need. 

Image: Nolan Wells