Our founding fathers knew well the danger of standing armies, as James Madison stated: "A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty." So too, the Third Amendment to the Constitution states: "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." Currently, the United States doesn't just have a standing army, we are far beyond that, instead, we have the budget of our vast military empire, along with the associated personnel and corporations that serve this empire, so that this vast military-industrial complex lends itself to the very thing that creates a constant disturbance to citizens of the United States each and every day, which is, the more areas of this world, America has its footprint in, the more trouble is brewed, not staved.
That aside, there are in fit, form, and function, truly standing armies in America, they are in our communities, they are part and parcel of our justice system, in which, we recognize them today, as the police. What most people are not aware of, is this modern-day police force that we take for granted as a necessity in order to maintain law and order, safety, and civility, did not actually exist back in colonial times. Further to the point, one of the greatest errors made by Great Britain, when we were still just a colony to them, was the decision made by Great Britain to board their troops in the homes of civilians in America as well as to utilize these troops as essentially their version of everyday law enforcement against the recalcitrant colonists. This meant that a "standing army" was absolutely part of the colonial experience, interfering with the colonists day-to-day activities, constantly monitoring the colonists, with obviously the means and firepower to assert their authority if need be.
It then follows from the above, that today's centralized police force that are ubiquitous in any city of any significant size, represents in fit and form, a standing army. These police forces are armed, they are the equivalency of a military force, and they have the right or own the right, to arrest people and to confiscate material items from the public, with virtual practical immunity from any justice system. Not only does the police force arrest whomever that they so desire, in the public sphere, but routinely they do not identify themselves so as to infiltrate designated organizations, which, of themselves are guilty of nothing, so as to monitor and to regulate such. Further, under some of the slimmest pretenses, certain citizens of this country are not even safe within their own private space, such as their homes or their cars, from forceful entry and even the use of lethal force.
While, many citizens believe that there is a necessity for a police force, they are missing the most important point, which is that there is a massive difference of a police force that responds to the people, as created by those people, as opposed to a police force that works hand-in-hand with untouchable governmental agencies of all sorts, prosecutorial agents with their own agenda, and the overall invasiveness of a well trained, aggressive police force that targets certain classes of citizens, while protecting specifically a favored few. Today's police force has far too much power, with minimal accountability, that creates unnecessary tensions between the population as a whole and such policing agencies. It would be one thing if police actually did serve and protect, of which, some do, but rather in whole, the typical mindset is to aggressively pursue those that have no power, so as to put their boot upon their neck, and make them to know, that at all times, with no sanctuary to be had, that they are subjects to the master class.