Pentagon Has Given Police Billions Of Dollars Of Equipment It Doesn’t Need
The Pentagon has thrown billions of dollars in military equipment at local police forces, equipment the forces don’t often use, and don’t need. Unless, of course, you’d like us to live in a police state.
Since the 1990s, the Pentagon has provided local police with more than $5 billion worth of military equipment it no longer needs, such as assault weapons, body armor, and even tactical vehicles.
The so-called “1033 program” administered by the Defense Department’s Law Enforcement Support Office was intended to help local police fight drug dealers and terrorists in their neighborhoods, according to the Defense Department. But some police forces use the equipment as a form of crowd control, which has angered critics who say Americans shouldn’t be treated like enemy combatants.
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Among the equipment:
Armored tactical vehicles
Grenade and tear gas launchers
AR 15’s
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edmeyer_able August 17th, 2014 at 8:28 pm
And the taxpayer is fleeced twice for this fiasco, once on initial cost and secondly on the interest added to the national debt.
uzza August 17th, 2014 at 8:45 pm
Billions of dollars in food stamps to poor people WILL turn them into dependent lazy moochers,
but billions of dollars of military killing tools to the police, WON’T turn them into a military killing machine.
Have I got that right?
NW10 August 17th, 2014 at 8:53 pm
I’m not holding my breath that this Congress, under spineless Speaker Boozer, is going to do anything about this issue anytime soon.
Jeff Allen August 17th, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Almost a full 6 years after hearing about going through budgets line by line and eliminating unnecessary spending. So was it deemed necessary or was it simply just missed?
greenfloyd August 18th, 2014 at 4:45 am
The sad thing is it was and still is considered necessary by the powers that be. The stuff that goes missing is a whole other can of worms. Nonetheless the outcome is a self-full-filling prophecy in places like Ferguson MO, standing up to the American Police State.
Jeff Allen August 18th, 2014 at 7:39 am
And let’s remember that in 6 years our Nobel Peace Prize winner has very little to curb our spending on such things and as far as use of military force and $$$, he has simply directed it at different targets.
fancypants August 18th, 2014 at 2:42 am
Its good to see our citizen and police relations have improved
Tom Ward August 18th, 2014 at 4:09 am
“drug dealers and terrorists in their neighborhoods”
So much money is wasted on the war on drugs. Of course it’s not just money that is wasted but more importantly the lives of so called “criminals” who have had their right to choose what they want to put in their body taken away from them by unconstitutional laws. Next time you vote for tougher laws on drug “crimes”, pat yourself on the back for sympathizing with your inner bible thumping moral superiority complex over freedom.
peacedreamer August 28th, 2014 at 10:20 pm
Anybody still think they live in a “free country”? The Bill of Rights has been nullified, huh?
Steven H October 1st, 2014 at 11:50 am
That isn’t an AR-15, author. AR-15’s are a civilian approved sporting rifle. Not an “assault rifle” lol. That “AR-15” you have pictured is an M4 configured as a sniper rifle. There is a difference .. lol. That sort of ill-informed crap is a big reason people have an extremely poor understanding and irrational fear of firearms. Just because an AR-15 is designed to LOOK like an M4 and/or an M16 does NOT make it an M4 or M16. I cannot buy one of those unless I’ve got $10,000 laying around .. plus $200 bucks and 6 months to a year to wait .. after I apply for special one-time approval from the ATF. During that 6 month to year .. they assign an agent to investigate you thoroughly.
AR-15’s are not military grade weapons .. even if they say “Mil-Spec” .. which means little more than things like the buffer tube in the stock is more durable, that the manufacturer uses a certain kind of steel for the barrel, coats the rifle in the same kind of bluing, etc. None of it makes it more dangerous.
I know this wasn’t a gun control related post .. but c’mon people. I’m sick of the media (or anyone claiming to be a part of it) not having a clue what they’re talking about when discussing firearms. Just as depressing is how the general public feels entitled to spew about them without the slightest clue what they’re talking about either. I believe the reaction of people informed on firearms and firearm-related issues is similar to the reactions one might give to someone who vehemently opposes abortion but believes babies come from storks.
Steven H October 1st, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Anyway … thank you, statists. This is what you’ve helped to create. When you cry for government protection and government control, this is what you get. Our little police state .. this blooming soft-tyranny .. is what statists have been BEGGING for. I’m a dedicated and passionate student of history .. and this monstrous government was just INCREDIBLY predictable.
You want more government? You’ve got it! Now tell me ALL about how individuals shouldn’t be allowed to own things like “AR-15 ASSAULT RIFLES” because they are TOO powerful and designed for SOLDIERS! Please .. watch the never-ending stream of cops brutally beating and/or murdering people on a daily basis. Check out the 2005 SCOTUS ruling that cops have “no duty to protect” citizens. Then take a GOOD look at even small-town police forces driving around in MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambust Protected) vehicles. Then watch the videos of cops establishing martial law in Boston and the surrounding areas .. kicking in doors and carrying out illegal search after illegal search while looking for the “Boston Bomber” .. and then tell me cops are the only ones who should be armed.