Demilitarization of Police
Short description: Stop/restrict police access to and use of militarized equipment
The Issues
Lack of justifiable need: The 1033 program has put equipment such as grenade launchers, bayonets and armored vehicles in the hands of police in our cities and communities. From 2015 to 2017, those 3,000 items accounted for about $775 million. “We’ve seen instances reported of some small towns, even some college and university police departments that were acquiring military-grade weapons without any demonstrable need for the use of these or the acquisition of these weapons,” according to Thomas Nolan, a former senior policy advisor for the Department of Homeland Security.
Lack of oversight/accountability: What makes both 1033 and 1122 programs so powerful is the apparent lack of clear oversight and accountability. The 1122 program, for instance, is not a grant or transfer program and thus is not required to be monitored by the federal government. Over the past three decades, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has issued eight reports criticizing the record-keeping and control around the program. In July 2017, the office revealed that a watchdog group created a fictitious federal agency and obtained 100 restricted items worth more than $1.2 million, including night-vision goggles, fake training rifles and pipe bombs.
Why are the police bringing military assault rifles to protests? And where did they get them?
Why did the police start using militarized tactics and equipment on American citizens?
Long description: Law enforcement agencies including elementary school and campus officers are able to obtain free surplus military equipment and/or purchase other military equipment at the same prices as the federal government. Police have obtained riot gear, automatic rifles, explosive devices and armored vehicles designed for Iraq and Afghanistan, among other things.
Taxpayer dollars are being used to obtain these weapons for use in our communities. Law enforcement agencies have obtained nearly half a billion dollars of surplus military equipment under the so-called 1033 Program since August 2017, when President Donald Trump lifted restrictions imposed by the Obama administration, a USA TODAY/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis found. Police agencies possess about $10.5 million worth of riot gear and “nonlethal” weapons, such as pepper spray, through the program, nearly three times the amount they had in 2014, according to the Pentagon’s data.
This transfer of militarized equipment to police happens through two federal programs. The 1122 program allows the police to purchase new military equipment using their own funding. The 1033 program allows the Department of Defense to transfer excess military equipment to local law enforcement agencies free of charge, as long as they pay for shipping and maintenance. The majority of the gear – about half the program’s value – is not controversial. It includes office furniture, generators and first aid kits. RAND estimates that from 2015 to 2017, 2.2 million of those items accounted for $1.2 billion.