Spurred to action by the now-iconic pictures of peaceful protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, paired off against what appeared to be a police force decked out to retake Fallujah, the Obama administration has been reviewing the use of surplus military equipment by law enforcement agencies. The findings are in, and while there's no word of perhaps curtailing the use of, say, armored vehicles with roof-mounted turrets, the administration thinks it can at least
increase oversight and "unify standards" for their purchase.
President Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order to calling for additional oversight of various federal programs which provide military surplus equipment to local law enforcement agencies, senior administration officials said Monday, but will stop short of banning the transfer of heavy gear to police forces. [...]
[B]eyond calling for additional oversight, community engagement, and training, Obama will not act to curtail the transfer of military-style weapons and vehicles to local law enforcement, officials said, adding that wasn’t even the subject of their review. “Ultimately these were programs that were authorized by Congress, and so congressional intent is really at issue here,” one senior administration official told reporters before Obama’s announcement on the condition of anonymity.
Whether Congress has the stomach to limit transfer of such equipment remains to be seen, although there's been positive noises in that direction. (Photographs that make the streets of St. Louis look like Tiananmen Square have embarrassed our representatives greatly, since not looking like that has been our international claim to fame for some time now. Oops.)
Also announced: a new Community Policing Initiative investment package.
Obama will also announce a three-year $263 million package to increase the use of police body-worn cameras and expand local law enforcement training.
It would help pay for about 50,000 new body cameras, but funding for that will also need to work through Congress.
You can find an administration press release summarizing the findings and proposed "process improvements" here.