PEORIA — The topic of police undergoing a military transformation is a hot one nationally. But some Journal Star-area law-enforcement departments haven’t seen fit to try to obtain an armored car or a mine-resistant vehicle from the Pentagon’s scrap yard.

An informal survey revealed few have chosen to participate in a program to obtain military surplus equipment. Those that did received a few weapons years ago and haven’t tried to get anything since.

“We didn’t see anything on there that we thought we needed at the time,” Peoria Heights Police Chief Dustin Sutton said. “The problem that we would run into, if we wanted to get an armored car, is storage. I’m not sure where we would put the thing when we weren’t using it.”

Two days after dozens of police officers in what appeared to be full military gear took on rioters in Ferguson, Mo., The New York Times published a database that details which counties nationwide received items that included planes, body armor, assault rifles, grenade launchers, armored vehicles and night-vision goggles.

The data, obtained from the Defense Logistics Agency’s Law Enforcement Support office, doesn’t indicate which agencies or departments received such equipment. It only states where the material went on a county level.

Anjali Julka, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, said up to 800 police agencies in Illinois are eligible. The exact number, she said, changes each year.

In Peoria County, the database published by the Times indicates two assault rifles were sent there since 2006. Tazewell County received 91 rifles, 32 pistols and 31 night-vision goggles. Fulton County received three armored vehicles, 27 rifles and 10 pistols.

Chief deputy Joe Needham of the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office said several M-16 rifles were purchased years ago. But the department replaced them with new weapons. The 12 rifles that had been obtained then were distributed to the agencies.

The little-known 1033 program, so named for the section in a defense spending bill that created it, has earned attention in the wake of the Ferguson riots. It began in the early 1990s as Congress wanted a way to help local and state law enforcement agencies that were heavily involved in counter-drug activities. At the same time, the departments could rid themselves the cost of having to maintain or dispose of that gear.

In the 20-plus years of the program, more than $6 billion has gone to police agencies through the program. All items are taken in as-is condition, and the agency that obtained it must find a way to transport it.

Interim Peoria Police Chief Jerry Mitchell said his department had just signed up for the program, but not to get armored cars or firearms. Mitchell said he was looking for high-clearance vehicles that could be used during natural disasters, such as floods or heavy snows.

“And if there are other things that we could use, we’ll see then, but right now, we have to sign up and see if we are eligible,” Mitchell said.

But the 1033 program isn’t the only way to obtain what appears to be military equipment.

The city buys body armor and uniforms for its special response team. Peoria County obtained a Bearcat armored vehicle through a program sponsored by the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, which seeks to combine resources among smaller departments.

Jim Page, the ILEAS executive director, said the agency doesn’t distribute military equipment but did help Peoria County obtain the Bearcat, which it uses in connection with a regional emergency response team. But, he said, that vehicle can be used elsewhere if the need arises.

“You don’t and the citizens don’t think for two seconds when they see an armored car from Brinks pulling up to Costco and getting the money. Yet we complain when we put our police officers into armored cars,” Page said. “Our purpose is simple. We want to protect police officers in situations where there is a real threat to them.”

Sutton and Mitchell said the county allows other departments or agencies to use the vehicle. The city took up that offer last November during an armed standoff with a man holed up in a North Valley home.