Los Angeles Unified’s school police have returned their armored vehicle after community outcry over a federal program that sent military weapons to local law enforcement agencies.

That “1033 program” came under scrutiny in the wake of scenes from Ferguson, Mo., where police confronted protesters with military weapons.

The school police had also accepted battle-ready weapons.

After returning three grenade launchers in September, School Police Chief Steven Zipperman said Friday he sent back the mine resistant and ambush proof (MRAP) vehicle his department received in June.

“We’ve decided that particular vehicle, based on its sheer size and maneuverability and the resources it takes to operate it, wasn’t viable for us,” Zipperman said.

At nearly 20 feet long, the more than 14-ton vehicle was designed to keep troops safe during ambushes in which enemies would blow up the lead vehicle of a convoy, while raining down gunfire on Marines and soldiers who were trapped.

School police wanted the MRAP to rescue people in the event of a wide-scale attack that would prevent other law enforcement agencies from responding to campuses, Zipperman said.

With a value of $733,000, the vehicle seemed a cost-effective alternative to armor-plated vehicles built for civilian use, which cost $300,000, Zipperman has said. However, the cost of maintenance and certifying a driver played a role in Zipperman’s decision to send the MRAP back to state officials who administer the federal program, he said.

State officials transferred the MRAP to the Barstow Police Department last month, said Alex Pal, an attorney in the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

As for a replacement, Zipperman said, the district will consider obtaining a used armored car and other cost-effective alternatives.

Manuel Criollo of the Community Rights Campaign has been advocating for LAUSD police to destroy its military arsenal, as part of efforts to demilitarize law enforcement across the city.

“We’re trying to demilitarize all police in Los Angeles, so clearly it’s an important breakthrough they’re returning the MRAP vehicle that was made for Iraq and Afghanistan and had no place on school grounds,” Criollo said.

Last month his organization sponsored a protest near Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. Youths who turned out for the demonstration told stories of how police patrol their neighborhoods in military gear, he said.

“It’s a real thing,” Criollo said. “It’s not just that people are fearing their right to protest and the reaction of police, but we see a lot of this military equipment in use.”

The Community Rights Campaign has requested an inventory of all weapons possessed by LAUSD.

The school district previously returned three 40mm grenade launchers that were used for fighting in the jungles of Vietnam — and obtained by LAUSD in the months following Sept. 11, 2001 — as a means to fire less-than-lethal rounds that could disperse crowds in civil unrest, Zipperman has said.

However, LAUSD’s armory still contains M16 rifles received through the program. The 61 fully automatic rifles were converted to semi-auto and are used in training by officers seeking credentials to fire assault rifles, he said.

Zipperman said his department is in the process of providing public records that will detail the district’s weapon inventory. Once that happens, Criollo wants the school board to ensure all of the weapons are either destroyed, disassembled or returned to the Department of Defense, according to a Nov. 10 letter he sent to board members.

The Community Rights Campaign is also part of a coalition of groups urging the federal government to end its 1033 program.

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Mark Harnitchek wrote that state agencies decided how to distribute weapons to local agencies. However, Harnitchek notes that he fully supports President Barack Obama’s decision to review the program.

“I have directed my staff to cooperate fully with the review as I strongly support ensuring transfers of Department of Defense materials for law enforcement activities strike a proper balance of accountability and need,” Harnitchek wrote in an Oct. 17 letter.

Since 1993, Southland law enforcement agencies have collected $150 million worth of military gear, according to a database maintained by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. More than $4.2 billion in equipment has been given away nationwide since the 1990s, according to an Associated Press report that found a disproportionate share went to police departments in rural areas with few officers and little crime.

While federal authorities previously released a database detailing equipment giveaways to county law enforcement agencies, a database detailing equipment collected by local police is expected to be released any day, Pal said.

As police prepared to react to civil unrest in Ferguson, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday urged officers to show restraint.

“The Justice Department encourages law enforcement officials, in every jurisdiction, to work with the communities they serve to minimize needless confrontation,” Holder said.