Military Equipment Given To Police Departments

Police receive most of their militarized equipment through two federal programs.

Military equipment given to police departments. Defense Department data reviewed by NBC News shows that the agencys 1033 program the main supplier of military surplus equipment has shipped seven MRAPs worth nearly 12 million to local. Department of Defense data found. But unlike in years. Military Equipment Transferred to Police Departments The Pentagon has supplied state and local law enforcement with military gear during both the Obama and Trump presidencies.

Of seven items on the list of prohibited equipment only one had actually been given to police departments in recent years noted a May 2015 article in the Guardian. The militarization of law enforcement is also associated with intelligence agency-style information. The 1033 program allows the Department of Defense to transfer excess military. This includes the use of armored personnel carriers APCs assault rifles submachine guns flashbang grenades grenade launchers sniper rifles and Special Weapons and Tactics teams.

Police have increasingly obtained other military-grade equipment such as riot gear and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles the hulking heavily armored vehicles designed to withstand. These police departments have a variety of options for purchasing or acquiring their military equipment but by far one of the most popular methods is through the Department of Defenses DoD 1033 program which gives surplus military equipment from the Pentagon to law enforcement departments across the country. Its easy enough to buy tactical gear in the US and the Homeland Security Grant Program has funneled billions of dollars to law enforcement agencies to acquire military-grade equipment. John Templon BuzzFeed News Reporter Posted on June 4 2020 at 548 pm.

A small Pennsylvania County police department for example also received an MRAP from the Pentagon despite having just five police officers. The program transfers surplus equipment from combat deployments to police departments and requires law enforcement agencies to make use of the equipment according to the New York Review of Books. The militarization of police is the use of military equipment and tactics by law enforcement officers. The 1033 and the 1122 initiatives.

The Marshall Project a nonprofit news service reported that year that the program had delivered 5 billion worth of equipment between 1990 and 2014 including 14 billion in tactical military. Since 1997 the US Department of Defense has transferred more than 72bn in military equipment to law enforcement agencies. The Defense Department program provides excess military equipment to law enforcement agencies for only the cost of shipping and maintenance. Police Departments Have Received Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Military Equipment Since Ferguson The Defense Departments 1033 military-equipment program has come under heavy scrutiny but local law enforcement are continuing to receive supplies.

Billions of dollars in surplus military equipment including armored vehicles and high-powered rifles that have been transferred by the federal government to thousands of US. The problem according to lawmakers is that some of. Two independent studies have drawn the same conclusions. The bipartisan group of lawmakers are seeking a review of a Defense Department initiative that transfers hardware like bayonets and grenade launchers to police departments the New York Times.

Police departments have not reduced crime or increased officer safety. This is part of a program that began as part of the drug war the idea being in the 90s we need to give this surplus military equipment to police departments as a way to fight drug gangs. For decades police departments have acquired military weaponry like grenade launchers and armored vehicles for little cost through a controversial Defense Department program called 1033. Hampton Roads police department and sheriffs office acquisitions tripled to nearly 854000 worth of equipment a Daily Press analysis of US.