Lyn Riddle

lnriddle@greenvillenews.com

Think Pickens County and images of the Jocassee Gorges, Table Rock and Clemson University come to mind. Shorelines beside three mountain lakes. A crime rate much lower than the state average.

Not the kind of place that would need a mine-resistant ambush vehicle, known in military speak as an MRAP. But a few months ago, the Pickens County Sheriff's Office got one.

The vehicle that can withstand the force of an improvised explosive device or a land mine is one of six armored vehicles Upstate law enforcement agencies received as part of a federal program that distributes unneeded military equipment, ostensibly to fight drugs and other crimes.

In all, Upstate departments have received 10 military helicopters, four armored vehicles, two mine-resistant vehicles and 260 assault rifles, according to records from the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Pentagon Excess Property Program, more commonly known as the 1033 program, has distributed about $4 billion in surplus materials to more than 800 law enforcement agencies throughout the United States since the early 1990s.

The program was little known until equipment more commonly used in war was turned on residents of Ferguson, Missouri, protesting the killing of an unarmed teenager.

In the Upstate, the stance among the leaders of the various sheriff offices and police departments falls about evenly into three categories — don't need it, might need it and let's get it and use it for promotional purposes such as high school events, parades and community gatherings.

Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said he sought the MRAP because his agency couldn't afford to buy a SWAT vehicle, which could cost as much as $200,000. Instead, the county paid $3,500 for shipping.

"I consider it a rolling bulletproof vest," he said.

It could be used to evacuate a school during an active shooting incident,in a domestic violence dispute or in a terrorist attack at Oconee Nuclear Station, which is in the next county. Clark said it would have helped in a situation a few years ago when a man barricaded himself in his house and sprayed responding officers with gunfire from an assault rifle. No one was injured and deputies talked him out of the house.

"There were bullet holes in the cars," he said. "That's how serious it was."

The program

In all, Pentagon records show law enforcement agencies in South Carolina have received 82 armored vehicles, and several of them are in largely rural counties such as Aiken, which also received a grenade launcher, and Chesterfield.

The great wealth of military equipment received through the 1033 program, though, is less lethal materials such as first aid and trauma kits. The inventory of what's available looks more like a used furniture store than a weapons provider: desks, copiers, fax machines, trucks, clothing.

Agencies pay a fee to join and, once approved, can request items through a website maintained by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency. If the receiving agency no longer needs the equipment, it must be returned.

That's precisely what Westminster Police Chief Dean Awalt is doing with the Hummer he has parked behind the Police Department headquarters. Officers used it once during an ice storm to pick people up and in a parade. It's turned on every now and then and driven around the parking lot to be sure it remains in working order, he said.

"I don't see the need for a bunch of stuff you don't use," said Awalt, who has been chief since the day after Christmas in 2012. The former chief resigned amid a SLED investigation into missing money and pleaded guilty to misconduct in office and embezzlement in July, court records show.

Awalt said once he became chief, he asked the Logistics Agency to suspend Westminster's account. Besides the Hummer, the department received some campers, night vision goggles and nine M16s, which are semi-automatic weapons traditionally used by snipers. The rifles are locked in a vault, he said, and he's deciding whether to keep them.

He can see why a big agency with a tactical team would benefit from the 1033 program, but not a city of fewer than 3,000 people.

"They're going to run into people who are trying to outgun you," he said.

Not everyone takes part

The city of Greenville Police Department, though, doesn't take part in the 1033 program, but has leveraged federal grants totaling about $300,000 in the past five years to buy more traditional police equipment, said spokesman Johnathan Bragg. The agency has bought in-car cameras, printers, scanners and protective vests for officers.

Likewise, Greer Police Department hasn't applied to be part of the 1033 program.

"I'm one of the people who doesn't want military equipment," said Greer Police Chief Dan Reynolds. "If you don't need that kind of stuff, you don't need it."

Simpsonville Police Department doesn't take part in the program, Chief Keith Grounsell said. The agency has a federal grant that pays half the cost of a bulletproof vest.

The city of Spartanburg has received a box truck to transport members of the SWAT team, said Lt. Jennifer Kindall. Police and fire departments have received more than $9 million through the federal and state grants in the last 11 years to obtain traditional emergency equipment such as vests, fire trucks and training, she said.

Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis said he hasn't asked for a military armored vehicle because he has one bought with funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Called The Bear, the $250,000 bulletproof vehicle has been used when someone is barricaded inside a house.

"We pull up in the front yard with a loudspeaker to negotiate," he said. "When the suspect sees the vehicle sitting outside they usually automatically surrender."

The Bear is one of two in the state — the other is owned by the State Law Enforcement Division — and is available as needed to any law enforcement agency in the Upstate, Loftis said.

Greenville County Sheriff's Office has also received 30 M16s, though all but a few have been cycled out, Loftis said. The few that are left are used for training and honor guard duty. About 100 Kevlar helmets were obtained through the 1033 program. They would be used in the event of a riot or civil disturbance, he said.

Fountain Inn Police Chief Keith Morton said periodically he gets emails asking if he has an interest in an armored vehicle.

"They're 14 feet tall and upfitted for municipal use, but what would you use it for?" he said. He's also heard from other chiefs who said if they drive one of the surplus vehicles, they have people follow them in case they break down.

"At one time we looked at it and, oh my God, it was just junk," Morton said.

That is the case in Oconee County, which has an armored vehicle that has never worked, said Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. It needs a transmission and a motor and sits at the county's maintenance facility.

"We'll probably end up taking it back," he said. He doesn't intend to ask for another. Such a vehicle could be useful in a terrorist attack at the Oconee Nuclear Power Station, but he can rely on neighboring Pickens County to bring its MRAP.

He said various Upstate agencies took part in a terrorist simulation earlier this month and met all the objectives.

Air power

What has been useful in Oconee County, he said, is the Bell OH-58 helicopter the agency got through the 1033 program. The single-engine, single-rotor helicopter was used to support officers on the ground during a drug bust at a home.

He said officers had information that suspects were inside a house where they were manufacturing methamphetamine and that if confronted they would run. The air surveillance helped, and the suspects were arrested, he said.

It has also been used in a car chase. When Crenshaw took office in January 2013, the agency had no pilot for the helicopter, which is the second one the county has received from the military. The first was traded for the second.

Crenshaw said he asked a retired military pilot who lived in Oconee County to assess whether the helicopter was worth keeping. The pilot found it to be in good condition with many more workable hours on the blades and rotors. It costs about $9,000 a year to operate, he said.

It has flown 33 missions, including general surveillance and flights to keep it going. Crenshaw has decided to send a deputy to flight school.

"The helicopter will be an asset," he said, especially if he can get a grant to buy infrared equipment to help in the search for missing people in Oconee County's miles of forests and mountains.

Greenville County's Loftis said the OH-58 helicopter his agency received about 15 years ago is used on average twice a week. The Sheriff's Office also has a two-seater Huey helicopter that Greenville Technical College obtained through the military program. It is mostly used for emergency response teams and was put to work to combat a fire on Paris Mountain a few years ago.

"It probably saved millions of dollars in homes," he said.

Pickens County Sheriff Clark said the helicopter his agency received through the 1033 program is used several times a year for search and rescue and criminal apprehension. It is stored at the Pickens County Airport. Its main rotor has been rebuilt.

"We scrounge for surplus parts," Clark said. One of the narcotics officers is also a pilot and Greenville County helps with maintenance, he said.

Pickens County Sheriff's Office also received 20 M16s, but most of them have been cycled out of use. The agency received federal grants to obtain AR15s, he said.

Clark said eight months ago his agency obtained $20,000 in medical kits that will be distributed among all law enforcement agencies and fire departments in Pickens County.

His feeling is that if military equipment is used once and it saves a child's life or protects his officers, it's worth it.

"It would be a disservice to the public to turn that down," he said.

Not so warlike

The police departments in Mauldin and Travelers Rest in Greenville County have obtained Humvees, which are glorified Jeeps, which they use to promote their departments.

Travelers Rest Police Chief Lance Crowe said his department has a 20-year-old Humvee that the Defense Department stripped of the armor except on the door before shipment. The city's school resource officer drives it to Travelers Rest High School, he said.

"The TR High School/Enoree Vocational auto shop students took it on as a project last year and were proud to make it 'their' vehicle," he said. "In their honor we had the TR Devil Dog logo incorporated into the decal scheme."

He said the vast amount of items his agency has received are materials that would have been bought anyway, such as tourniquets, fleece jackets, a computer monitor, a golf cart. They've also obtained flashlights, shovels and fuel cans.

"It may help if people remember that as taxpayers they've paid for this equipment already," he said in an email.

Mauldin obtained two Humvees in 2011, and has turned one into a vehicle taken to fairs, school openings, any sort of community function where it is requested, said Chief Bryan Turner. It has a gaming console inside for kids to climb in and use and a drop-down television on the outside. The gun turret was taken off and it's now like a moon roof, he said.

"I just wanted something big so when kids see it they can identify with it," he said.

The other Humvee is used for spare parts.

His department also received eight assault rifles, dedicated to use in the event of a shooter in one of the city's schools.

"Some schools have long hallways — 120- to 130-feet long," Bryan said. "The officers go through mandatory training to use these and once a year have to submit a report."

Travelers Rest Police Department has three M14s, a sniper rifle that was standard issue until the M16 was developed in the 1970s. The M14 is often used in the military by honor guards and for ceremonial purposes.

Morton acknowledged that criminals have an arsenal of AK47s and other high-powered weapons, but added, "Shotguns are still pretty good for an urban area."