The Defense Department’s '1033” military-equipment program has come under heavy scrutiny, but local law enforcement are continuing to receive supplies.
of the 1033 program found that the transfers “can foster an environment at the local level in which it is difficult to distinguish between the appropriate military use and the appropriate [law enforcement agency] use of the same equipment.”
Public officials have, in the past, appeared to heed such concerns, particularly in the wake of the Ferguson protests, which were sparked by the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, by a white police officer. But that order was rescinded in August 2017 by the Trump administration, removing much of the oversight of the program and allowing more equipment to be transferred. “Those restrictions went too far,”then-attorney general Jeff Sessions. “We will not put superficial concerns above public safety.”
The mine-resistant vehicles, which can weigh about 24 tons, stand up to 13 feet tall, and have a gun turret on top, were designed to withstand improvised explosive devices and ambushes in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than to assist with crowd control.
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