
As the police violence in Ferguson, MO continues and there is a growing outcry over military weapons transfers from the Pentagon to police departments all over the US, a group of Bay Area organizations and War Resisters League are organizing a week of action and education against Urban Shield, a massive SWAT team training and weapons expo set to take place September 4-8 in Oakland, CA. According to an internal memo between the Alameda County Sheriff's office to the Board of Supervisors, Urban Shield 2014 will cost at least $1.7 million. National programs such as 1033 under the Department of Defense, and Urban Shield, under the Department of Homeland Security's Urban Area Security Initiative, are behind the militarization of US police forces.