It is a big step towards a totalitarian state
totalitarian - definition of totalitarian by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
What I found chilling was the number of people here who said ' send in the army' in that summer riot thread.
It is an example of mind manipulation -
...create a problem by social engineering
...get the reaction - riots - and people say ' send in the army'
...offer the solution - martial law
you asked for it!