Free Military Hardware

kilgore9012 Published 04/11/2014

For Every Police Department In The United States

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Small-town police departments across the country have been gobbling up tons of equipment discarded by a downsizing military.
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A disproportionate share of the 4.2 billion worth of property distributed since 1990 has been obtained by police departments and sheriff's offices in rural areas with few officers and little crime.
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Nearly 13,000 agencies in all 50 states and four U.S. territories participate is what's commonly called the 1033 Program, after a section of the National Defense Authorization Act that permits the transfer to law enforcement agencies of military property no longer needed.
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The national giveaway program operates with scant oversight, and the surplus military gear often sits in storage.
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Program officials often have to trust recipients to follow the rules and take only what they can utilize requests for equipment are reviewed, but the process hasn't stopped many overly aggressive departments from grabbing property that could be better used by other communities with a greater need.
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For many, the opportunity to amass a vast array of gear with few strings attached has proven to be too tempting to pass up, leading to a belly-up-to-the-open-bar mentality.
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The program has grown drastically in recent years, due in large part to the scaling down of the military from two wars, tight local-government operating budgets and eligibility expansion in 1996 to include all state and local law enforcement work. In fiscal year 2012, a record 546 million worth of property was transferred.
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Property is accepted on an as-is, where-is and first-come, first-serve basis. The receiving law enforcement entity bears all transportation and maintenance costs. None of the gifted property can be sold or leased without permission, or stockpiled. Personal use is barred.
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Critics fear the glut of freebies is helping to transform many local police departments into paramilitary forces.
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Federal reviews of the state programs also have been spotty. The Defense Department is required to conduct program compliance reviews of each state program every two years, but many states have often gone much longer without one.
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The harm for me is that it further militarizes American law enforcement .We made a serious mistake, I'm convinced, in equipping domestic law enforcement, particularly in smaller, rural communities, with this much military equipment.

1.
Small-town police departments across the country have been gobbling up tons of equipment discarded by a downsizing military.
2.
A disproportionate share of the 4.2 billion worth of property distributed since 1990 has been obtained by police departments and sheriff's offices in rural areas with few officers and little crime.
3.
Nearly 13,000 agencies in all 50 states and four U.S. territories participate is what's commonly called the 1033 Program, after a section of the National Defense Authorization Act that permits the transfer to law enforcement agencies of military property no longer needed.
4.
The national giveaway program operates with scant oversight, and the surplus military gear often sits in storage.
5.
6.
Program officials often have to trust recipients to follow the rules and take only what they can utilize requests for equipment are reviewed, but the process hasn't stopped many overly aggressive departments from grabbing property that could be better used by other communities with a greater need.
7.
8.
9.
For many, the opportunity to amass a vast array of gear with few strings attached has proven to be too tempting to pass up, leading to a belly-up-to-the-open-bar mentality.
10.
11.
The program has grown drastically in recent years, due in large part to the scaling down of the military from two wars, tight local-government operating budgets and eligibility expansion in 1996 to include all state and local law enforcement work. In fiscal year 2012, a record 546 million worth of property was transferred.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Property is accepted on an as-is, where-is and first-come, first-serve basis. The receiving law enforcement entity bears all transportation and maintenance costs. None of the gifted property can be sold or leased without permission, or stockpiled. Personal use is barred.
16.
17.
18.
Critics fear the glut of freebies is helping to transform many local police departments into paramilitary forces.
19.
20.
21.
Federal reviews of the state programs also have been spotty. The Defense Department is required to conduct program compliance reviews of each state program every two years, but many states have often gone much longer without one.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
The harm for me is that it further militarizes American law enforcement .We made a serious mistake, I'm convinced, in equipping domestic law enforcement, particularly in smaller, rural communities, with this much military equipment.