Department of Defense provided surplus military vehicles, rifles, pistols to local police department

Pentagon fueled Ferguson Confrontation

The Pentagon might not have boots on the ground in Ferguson, Mo., where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by police on Saturday, but it does have wheels on the street.

Michelle McCaskill, media relations chief at the Defense Logistics Agency, confirms that the Ferguson Police Department is part of a federal program called 1033 that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars of surplus military equipment to civilian police forces across the United States. The materials range from small items, such as pistols and automatic rifles, to heavy armored vehicles such as the MRAPs used in Afghanistan and Iraq.


USATODAY
Police forces pick up surplus military supplies
"In 2013 alone, $449,309,003.71 worth of property was transferred to law enforcement," the agency's website states.

Department of Defense provided surplus military vehicles, rifles, pistols to local police departments.

A lot of us here already know this but it is good to see it being reported more.

And 1 more link...
www.nationaljournal.com...

This is not new and has been around for a long time. The items are restricted as well. The bulk of what the armed forces use is incompatible with civilian law enforcement.

Trying to pass this off as something it is not is irresponsible.

a reply to: Xcathdra

And you defending the militarization of the police force is reprehensible.

originally posted by: lightedhype
a reply to: Xcathdra

And you defending the militarization of the police force is reprehensible.

and you assuming all police are the same is just as irreprehensible. What I did was point out the missing facts from the OP. Basing your opinion on information while failing to seek out the entire truth is also irreprehensible.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
This is not new and has been around for a long time. The items are restricted as well. The bulk of what the armed forces use is incompatible with civilian law enforcement.

Trying to pass this off as something it is not is irresponsible.

If the weapons are incompatible with civilian law enforcement why in the world would law enforcement buy the stuff. Even though this has been going on for a while, I'm going to guess that most citizens have no idea of it and certainly don't realize what their tax dollars are being spent on.

Perhaps Ferguson police should have spent some of that heavy hardware money on dash cams. Bet they will now.

a reply to: Witness2008

The M-16=AR 15's.

Armored vehicles are used for swat, riot control etc.

Items available to the general public. We are restricted in what items are available to law enforcement, and are restricted in quantities as well when requesting.

What would mission creep on this look like? Cruise missiles, maybe they will give them there A-10's, some tomahawks, and Apache helicopters.

originally posted by: LDragonFire
What would mission creep on this look like? Cruise missiles, maybe they will give them there A-10's, some tomahawks, and Apache helicopters.

The reason for the assault rifles moving into patrol vehicles from swat was a direct result of the North Hollywood Shootout.

Shall we explore how expensive patrol vehicles are, including all equipment etc. How many patrol vehicles can be destroyed during riots? How would armored vehicles hold up to that punishment, something they were specifically designed for?

If people are so concerned about what law enforcement gets from the military surplus, then they should speak up before we see rioting on tv and those vehicles being used. We should also ask why we only see them during times of riots / mass unrest.

If the militarization is total then we would see these items all the time right?