GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Despite the city's crime rate, the Flint Police Department isn't stockpiled with military equipment, unlike some departments.

Some department in the area, have anything from assault rifles to night vision goggles and Humvee military vehicles.



Across the country, the topic of military firepower and vehicles in the hands of local law enforcement has been a polarizing subject since the events in Ferguson, Missouri. After the police response to protesters in Ferguson, many began to renew a concern about the militarization of local police.



Genesee County Sheriff Robery Pickell said it's a legitimate concern.



"I can tell you this, from my experience and being around, this community wants law enforcement to protect them," Pickell said. "They do not want their police to be like occupational troops. When you start coming down the street with minesweepers and military operations that you're using to fight terrorists or wars against major powers, people become very, very suspect about the purpose of the police."

But the sheriff said there are some legitimate uses for military equipment. For one, it's a cost-saver as the Defense Department often provides police with military surplus gear free of charge.



For example, Pickell said his department received fully automatic rifles from the Defense Department several years ago. Not seeing a need for the fully automatic option, the sheriff's department converted the rifles to semi-automatic operation.



So far, the rifles have been mostly unused, Pickell said.



"We've had them for about 10 years," he said. "I think in 10 years we've only had to use them once."



It was about a year ago, the sheriff said, a suspect had fled police and holed himself up in a house. He was shooting at deputies, their only choice was to return fire. Because they only had a tight shot from a long distance, the rifles made sense, he said.



But in situations where people are peacefully protesting, Pickell said police on duty with military gear sends the wrong message.



"Anytime you start acting like occupational troops, people become suspect," he said. "I think sometimes people in the government forget we work for the people, they're our clients, they're our customer. I don't ever want our deputies to be viewed as occupational troops because they're going through the streets in heavily armored equipment. We don't need that."

A recent MLive-The Flint Journal online poll showed more readers in favor of the military gear.

As of Friday afternoon, 222 of the 378 voters -- or 59 percent -- were in favor of local police departments receiving military equipment.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, has said his committee will look to review a military program that supplies equipment to local police to see if the equipment is being used properly.

Law enforcement in Genesee County has received 86 assault rifles, 20 pieces of body armor 12 sets of night vision gear and 5 shotguns under the program.



But the Flint Police Department has none of that gear, said city spokesman Jason Lorenz. The city many years ago received some sport utility vehicles from the military, but they were civilian vehicles with no military modifications.



"It's been quite a while (since those vehicles were acquired)," Lorenz said. "Over 15 years."



The Saginaw County sheriff backed out of a heavily-publicized piece of military equipment this month when he handed over the keys to the Mine-Resistant Ambush Proof vehicle his department received from the Army.



The vehicle has been controversial because of its extreme size and reinforcement, comedian John Oliver made fun of the sheriff's vehicle in his HBO comedy show on Aug. 17.



That didn't stop the sheriff's department in Lapeer County from taking on the vehicle called Mine-Resistant Ambush Proof, or MRAP.



While the Saginaw County sheriff said the vehicle was too expensive to maintain, officials in Lapeer have said they reached out to local veterans who have worked on the vehicle in the field and have offered to help service the MRAP at no charge.



"It's certainly not an offensive vehicle at all. There's no firepower or anything on it. ... It's an armored car with an extra 18 inches of clearance," said Lapeer County Undersheriff Robert Rapson.





Blake Thorne is a reporter for MLive-The Flint Journal. Contact him at bthorne1@mlive.com or 810-347-8194. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.