Brian Shane

(Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times

Somerset County got military Humvees. Wicomico County a million-dollar bomb-proof vehicle. Berlin Police outfitted their entire department with office equipment. And other police departments across the Shore got hundreds of firearms.

It didn't cost them a dime.

Lower Eastern Shore police agencies have received nearly $1.8 million in equipment, vehicles, and weapons through a Department of Defense surplus program. The 1033 Program, as it is called by the Defense Logistics Agency, has been providing surplus military gear to local law enforcement agencies since 1997. More than 8,000 police departments from 50 states participate.

"I think it's a big help to us," said Somerset County Sheriff Ronnie Howard. "We're not — look, if you want to be around that stuff, join the military. I don't want anyone on the Shore, or in Somerset, to think I'm trying to make a little Army post here. By no means."

After being kept secret for years, the Pentagon finally distributed data earlier this year listing who gets what from them. This came after the program drew scrutiny for having provided gear to small towns — places like Ferguson, Mo., where police officers dealing with riots were seen carrying the same tactical gear and weapons used by the military.

Howard said they got the trucks in case of catastrophic events — which came in very handy during Hurricane Sandy, when they used Humvees to shuttle nurses to McCready Memorial Hospital because the nurses couldn't get to work in the stormy conditions.

For the 25-deputy sheriff's office, their surplus acquisitions include dozens of firearms — shotguns, M-14 and M-16 rifles, pistols — as well as trucks, night vision goggles, camera equipment, and a laser printer.

About 30 Glock pistols went to deputies to be used as off-duty sidearms. Night vision goggles, valued at $4,300 each, were initially assigned to officers on the midnight shift, but Howard says the devices are now antiquated and failing, and will be returned.

Another item on the list came under the head-scratching label of "modular sleep system," and listed a quantity of 60. It turns out, they were sleeping bags. "They were going to throw them away, so we gave them to the Boy Scouts. Brand-spanking-new in the crates," Howard said.

But you can't give away a vehicle. Police are required to send photographs each year of their acquired guns and vehicles to the program coordinator, to demonstrate they still have them.

In Worcester County, the sheriff's office has only acquired M14 and M16 rifles, according to Col. Doug Dods, who oversee operations for the department.

Police departments need only to apply for items they find on the Pentagon website. Not every item is a gimme; some heavy-duty items require police agencies to have a bona fide need for them.

"It's not a bad deal," Dods said. "When you need stuff and you don't have it in the budget, if you can find it, it's great. There are the sensitive items we have to maintain and do annual inventories on. When we don't need them anymore, we coordinate with them for the return. When we're done using it we have to turn it in, or find another agency to transfer it to."

Of the 22 rifles they acquired, Dods said he's already in the middle of transferring some back out, because his agency has purchased new semiautomatic AR-15 rifles and doesn't need the loaners, which date to the 1960s and '70s.

"As we don't need stuff, we're getting rid of it, and getting it off our books. But it does help, because we were short on patrol riles, and this was able to get us the stuff we needed," Dods said.

When asked why the Worcester Sheriff's Office never picked up any vehicles, Dods said it's typically because of maintenance. If a police department takes home a free truck, the maintenance and upkeep are their responsibility.

"Vehicles, generators — can you afford the maintenance and acquire the parts to keep that thing running?" he said. "Those parts may or may not be readily available. So, it's nice to get something, but you have to maintain it down the road. You gotta have the parts, you gotta have the budget for it, and you gotta have people who know how to work on the stuff."

The Wicomico County Sheriff's Office acquired a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected — or MRAP — vehicle in May. Sheriff Mike Lewis said the vehicle could be used in case of a mass shooting, a barricade situation, or a rescue situation. Wicomico also has acquired about 40 M14 rifles, and 10 M16 rifles.

Police in Ocean City have an armored truck, valued at $65,070, which they got in 2005. Police spokeswoman Lindsay Richard said its primary use is for training the department's tactical unit, called the Quick Response Team. The armored truck has never been used for anyhting other than trainng, and has never seen a live police situation, Richard said.

They've also obtained About 20 M14 and M16 rifles, which don't see any live police action, either. Those guns are only used for training, or for ceremonial purposes, like with their color guard.

"They're very old weapons, and aren't something we'd ever use in any sort of a live situation," Richard said.

In the town of Berlin, Police Chief Arnold Downing said almost their entire office space was outfitted with surplus federal equipment. That includes including tables, desks, chairs, file cabinets.

"It helps eases the operating budget, and saves the police department and the town thousands of dollars," Downing said. "It's definitely been a great resource. Why throw something away or put it on eBay if someone else needs that item?"

Downing said surplus hand-me-downs have always been a great way for smaller police departments like his to maintain certain operations without having to spend it from the operating budget. For example, a van Berlin Police now use was handed down from Ocean City Police, and then to the sheriff's office, before coming to them.

Berlin also has a Humvee ambulance, a military pickup, and a 2.5 ton truck that can ride through high water with capacity to hold at least 20 people in case of an evacuation.

"We'd never have been able to get any of those items, ever, if they were not through the 1033 program," Downing said.