Yesterday on Kos I argued for defunding the police, and highlighted data showing how much police activity is wasteful, misdirected or even harmful. Few commenters reached my data, distressed as they were by my use of the label “defund.”
I am convinced. Today I continue in the same vein but with a different point and a different word. Today I explore the Department of Defense’s NDAA 1033 program. If you don’t know about it, I share.
The National Defense Authorization allows the transfer of unused military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies at no cost. This includes armored vehicles, grenade launchers, M16 rifles and mine-resistant ambush vehicles – just what every local sheriff longs for.
Rural and small-town agencies appear most eager to collect combat-ready equipment. Natrona County, Wyoming, population 80,000, scored three armored trucks. Nearby Campbell County, population 48,000, scored a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP). The capital city of Cheyenne claimed a pair of MRAPs worth $1.42 million. Altogether, 13,000 MRAPs have been given away under the program.
Thankfully, in a non-insignificant nod to transparency, the Defense Logistics Agency itemizes the 1033 giveaways on its web page.
Here’s the kicker. Agencies don’t just receive combat gear for free – they’re required to use it. If property is not used within one year of receipt, it must given to someone else or returned. So the incentive is to use, not to abstain, even for ordinary gear like the fourteen 7.62 millimeter rifles acquired by police in my hometown Arlington, VA. Scrolling down I saw that Essex County, an hour away, acquired four boxes of grenades with an initial purchase price of $26.13 each.
To be fair, plenty of giveways are routine. Office furniture and utility vehicles. Rifles and sights. I’m happy the taxpayers of Essex County didn’t have to pay $26.13 each for boxes of grenades the U.S. government already paid for … but I am curious why they need them. As we all know, if you’re only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Easy access to weapons of war may help our local police not just look like an occupying army, but to act like one.