Local police departments acquire military surplus

Kelly Byer

Published Monday August 18, 2014 at 11:58 pm

Tactical police vehicles can be expensive. But with a federal program established in 1997, local law enforcement agencies have been able to inherit military surplus gear, including armored vehicles, free of charge.

PHOTO/ CantonRep.com / Bob Rossiter Senior operator Gary Premier boards the Canton Police Department's new Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, known as an MRAP. Alliance and Jackson Township police departments also received a six-wheeled MRAP vehicle this past year through the Department of Defense's military surplus program.

Boxy, high-riding and armored.

Tactical police vehicles can be expensive.

But with a federal program established in 1997, local law-enforcement agencies have been able to inherit military surplus gear, including armored vehicles, free of charge.

The program has become increasingly controversial in the wake of a forceful police response to Missouri protests, but local law-enforcement officials say it provides otherwise unaffordable equipment that could save lives.

“It’s free equipment from the government,” Uniontown Police Chief Harold Britt said. “It doesn’t cost anything but fuel.”

GRAB BAG

The Canton, Alliance and Jackson Township police departments each acquired a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle this past year, according to Ohio Law Enforcement Support Office. The six-wheeled, V-hulled vehicle is built to withstand bomb blasts.

Other departments, such as Massillon and Uniontown, have made use of armored Humvees in the past. Local agencies also have scored rifles, first-aid kits and other gear in varying condition.

“A lot of departments pick up laptops, ruggidized computers for the cars,” Britt said. “It’s just a wide variety of items used.”

Uniontown also has collected rifles and winter clothing, he said. The Department of Defense’s 1033 Program covers more military surplus gear than people generally think.

Canton, Jackson Township and Massillon police mostly have collected military rifles, such as M16s and M14s, with the occasional first-aid kit or night vision device. Much of the equipment is used by special response units and involves training, said Canton Police Chief Bruce Lawver.

“We’re very selective on what equipment we do get,” he said.

ON LOAN

It’s still the federal government’s property.

The obsolete or unwanted military gear is offered to government agencies, but if police ever tire of the equipment, they too must pass it on.

“It’s not like we can sell it when we’re done with it,” Massillon Police Chief Keith Moser said.

The Ohio Law Enforcement Support Office administers the federal program, providing an online inventory. Moser said departments request items and have them shipped, if necessary, picking up larger gear at the nearest warehouse in Columbus.

WORRIES

Increasing police use of militaristic tactics and gear has been a concern for the American Civil Liberties Union and journalists such as Radley Balko, who authored 2013’s “Rise of the Warrior Cop.”

Most recently, police response to people protesting near St. Louis after an officer shot an unarmed black teenager included descriptions of military-like uniforms and armored vehicles.

“Image after image shows officers clad in Kevlar vests, helmets and camouflage, armed with pistols, shotguns, automatic rifles, and tear gas,” Jamelle Bouie writes for Slate. “In one photo, protesters stand toe-to-toe with baton-wielding riot police, in another, an unarmed man faces several cops, each with rifles at the ready.”

Attorney General Eric Holder condemned any public violence or looting in a statement Thursday but said he was “deeply concerned that the deployment of military equipment and vehicles sends a conflicting message” when trust needed to be restored between the community and police.

An American Civil Liberties Union report released in June cites a number of incidents to show policing has become “excessively militarized, mainly through federal programs that create incentives for state and local police to use unnecessarily aggressive weapons and tactics designed for the battlefield.”

The report says an estimated 500 law-enforcement agencies received Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles through the program.

But the equipment will not make Jackson police operations any more militaristic, Brink said.

“We’re not going to operate any differently than we have in past,” he said. “The only thing that changes for us is that we have a vehicle that protects us more than anything that we’ve had in the past.”

Lawver agreed that the equipment is necessary for Canton officers in the event of a worst-case scenario. The department heads the multiagency Canton Regional Special Weapons and Tactics Cooperative Team, which has been expanding the past four years and needed a third armored vehicle. They also have a Humvee obtained through the federal program and their own armored vehicle.

Although the gear may seem similar to the military’s, Lawver said police have a different mission. The more than 30 regional SWAT members operate under standards established by national and state tactical officer associations. They primarily respond to high-risk search warrants and barricaded situations.

“It’s easy to look at and say it’s militaristic, but our whole goal really is to uphold the freedoms that we do have,” he said.

IN CASE

Britt can think of a handful of situations where an armored vehicle would have come in handy, including a 2010 standoff where a man fired a SKS assault rifle from his house.

“If someone is shooting at you, you want the best armored vehicle you can get to defend yourself and the public,” he said.

The Uniontown Special Response Team has been called three times since then for people shooting at others or houses, he said.

The high-riding Humvees and MRAPs could also be used in natural disasters because they can chart deep water, unlike SUVs, said Brink. His Jackson department requested their new MRAP when no other departments in the area had one. It will be available to any agency in the regional SWAT cooperative.

“I definitely see a number of scenarios we could use it, but none of the types of scenarios we really want to happen,” Brink said. “I look at it as an insurance policy for us.”

ACTUAL USE

The only local cost is shipping and maintenance, if needed. But while other departments are acquiring free armored vehicles, equipment costing about $500,000 or more, Uniontown police in July gave theirs to Butler County park rangers.

The department got the Humvee for use as a rescue vehicle about three years ago. Now that the fire department is better equipped and Uniontown is considering joining the regional SWAT cooperative, Britt said there was “really no need for it anymore.” Enough area agencies have an armored vehicle that could arrive within 15 to 20 minutes.

The Humvee mostly stayed in storage, available to the special response team, brought out for a parade or to be put on display. The department made use of guns obtained through the program but the cold weather jackets are “brand new in the bag.”

Massillon has also put few miles on their Humvee and found limited uses for the array of items collected the past 10 years. The barrel of 11 rifles were shortened to make it easier for SWAT members to enter and exit vehicles, but without funds to modify more, other guns remain in storage.

“We really haven’t used them a whole lot,” Moser said. “The Humvee, at this point, needs a couple batteries.”

Canton police, on the other hand, have put the surplus equipment to use. Rifles are given to patrol officers who qualify and multiple armored vehicles will allow the SWAT team to securely respond to more than one location.

All law-enforcement administrators considered it a benefit.

“It’s been a very good program,” Lawver said. “It’s allowed us to do things that, otherwise, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do due to resources and cost restrictions.”

Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or

kelly.byer@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @kbyerREP

