William H. McMichael

The News Journal

Delaware police agencies have received $9.86 million worth of equipment since late 2009

A truck tractor obtained by the Bridgeville Police had a $176,141 price tag.

The University of Delaware Police got 100 rolls of gauze bandages that each originally cost $1.68.

A virtual flood of free surplus U.S. military gear has flowed into Delaware police departments in recent years.

In tiny Delmar alone, the haul has ranged from tarps and treadmills to trailers and cargo trucks – all told, surplus military gear that originally cost the government $1.59 million. That doesn’t include any tactical equipment, such as rifles, that the department may have received since 2011 because the details on such gear are not public, officials say.

Statewide, the Defense Department has sent a total of $9.86 million worth of tactical and non-tactical equipment Delaware’s way since late 2009.

The equipment is provided via DoD’s Law Enforcement Support Office program, which allows for the transfer of excess property to lawmen in the U.S. and its territories.

The LESO program provided The News Journal with lists of every transferred item, and its original cost to the Pentagon. The non-tactical items were listed by agency. Last summer, for instance, the New Castle City Police were given a forklift that originally cost taxpayers $84,710; Selbyville Police received six rolls of reflective tape worth $10.05 each. Costs to local agencies other than shipping: zero.

Police agencies in the state have also received a lot of military gear: 155 combat rifles, including 20 M-14s used by ceremonial troops as well as snipers; 59 rifle sights; 31 Humvees; 52 components of night vision devices; and, two infrared imaging systems that originally cost $541,931 apiece. Although most bomb-related equipment in the state is bought with grant money from the Department of Homeland Security, one or more police agencies received two bomb-detection/disposal robots and one bomb suit.

Which ones received the tactical gear remains, in large part, a mystery. LESO wouldn’t provide those details. Police officials interviewed acknowledged the tactical items they’d been sent.

‘Intimidating’

Last year, more than $449.3 million worth of property was transferred to state and local agencies around the nation. Virginia was the top 2013 recipient: $51.5 million. The smallest was South Dakota, which received $89,502 worth of gear. Delaware’s 2013 total was $3.72 million.

The transfers appear to be skyrocketing as the drawdown of the U.S. military continues. After transfers annually averaging $505.93 million in original equipment value over the past three years, equipment originally worth a total of $787.52 million has been provided nationwide through July 24.

Nationally, residents in some communities have expressed dismay over the distribution of gear, saying it is creating an increasingly intimidating police presence that has a negative impact on local populations. Nearly 200 “MRAPs” – Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected armored vehicles designed to withstand a roadside bomb explosion – have been distributed to local police in the U.S. None, however, in Delaware.

At least one Delaware police chief shares that concern, with a caveat.

“I’m not looking at militarizing my police department,” said Chief William Topping of the Georgetown Police Department, which has taken $324,922 worth of surplus non-tactical gear since late 2011, ranging from generators to rifles and three Humvees. “I’m looking at things that we could use, or other people could use ... I’ve put in for water purification systems. We have flashlights. We have things that could be used in a real disaster.”

At the same time, Topping admits, “It’s a tough balance to strike. Because one of my primary concerns here is the safety of my officers. And I have to balance that with the public perception of the police department. Because people will always say, you know, that’s not gonna happen here in Sussex County. Well, I had a police officer murdered in Sussex County.”

That was Patrolman Chad Spicer, killed Sept. 1, 2009, while trying to stop a vehicle that had been involved in a shooting.

“By the same token, I could have gotten an MRAP,” Topping said. “But when you look at the practicality of having an MRAP, I can’t even drive that thing up and down the streets of Georgetown because we still have terra cotta pipes under the road. That weighs 60,000 pounds.

“Now, if they had a smaller armored vehicle, I would probably take it,” he said. “You still have incidents that take place. We’re not the city of Wilmington. But we still have our heroin problem here, and we still have a nefarious element out there that does not respect the law.”

All agencies enrolled

State Police say they are judicious about the gear they do accept, limiting their inventory to non-tactical operational support equipment such as clothing, cold weather gear, tents and shelters, sleeping bags, medical bags, binoculars, and so forth.

“Our current inventory does not include weaponry, up-armored vehicles, MRAPS, or Humvees,” said spokesman Sgt. Paul Shavack. The operational and maintenance costs, he said, outweigh their usefulness. The department has accepted a small number of surplus ballistic blankets – a protective barrier in high-risk situations – and reflex sights for rifles.

Statewide, police agencies in Delaware have pulled in $3.19 million of tactical gear since November 2009 and $6.67 million of non-tactical stuff since July 2011 under LESO.

The program, established in 1991 and enhanced in 1997, allows for the transfer of the “full range” of excess Defense Department property to lawmen in the U.S. and its territories for use in counter-drug and counter-terrorism actions, and during natural disasters.

The original value of non-tactical items received ranged widely. A truck tractor obtained by the Bridgeville Police had a $176,141 price tag. The University of Delaware Police were provided with 100 rolls of gauze bandages that each originally cost Uncle Sam $1.68.

The gear is provided “as is” to the local agencies.

Nearly every police agency in the state is enrolled in LESO. Delmar leads the pack in non-tactical acquisitions, followed closely by Harrington.

Since 2011, Delmar has taken in surplus items that originally cost $1.47 million. The No. 3 department on the list, the New Castle City Police, has drawn a bit more than one-third of that amount.

Saves agencies money

New Castle City Police acquisitions appear to be on the rise. The department has received nearly a quarter-million dollars worth of equipment through the year’s first seven months.

But this year’s numbers were inflated by several big-ticket items – a dump truck and two low-speed tractors – that accounted for most of the total. And those, New Castle City police chief Dan Tjaden said, were transferred from Delaware City Police, his former department, which didn’t want the items after he left in March to take his current job.

Over the past six months, he hasn’t delved into LESO.

“My password’s expired,” Tjaden said. “I haven’t been on there in six months. I’ve been too busy. And it’s a different animal up here. The pockets are a little deeper up here.”

Tjaden, however, is a big proponent of the program. In Delaware City, Tjaden said, “It saved us money.”

And much, including an old Humvee, was useful during Superstorm Sandy, when the force used to it to evacuate trapped citizens. That was later transferred to Bethany Beach, he said. He gave back the tow truck he was provided along with the Humvee. A forklift that originally cost $84,710 is in New Castle, stored in the city’s public works building.

Many of the non-tactical items were big money-savers, he said. “I replaced some of the old cathode ray tube computers with flat-screens.”

“It was nice,” he said. “I was getting stuff that I could use right away; the guys benefited from it; and it didn’t cost the city a dime.”

New Castle City had previously acquired surplus rifles, he said. They’re used only to fire simulated rounds during interior active-shooter training. Tjaden’s force does have other surplus tactical gear, such as laser-dot assault rifle sights and cold weather gear.

Humvees useful

The New Castle County Police Department is far down the state list of LESO users, having taken only $2,590 worth of military surplus over the past three years and none so far in 2014.

“We jump on things that we cannot obtain ourselves,” said Col. Elmer Setting, the department’s top officer, who said that “a large majority” of the county’s equipment needs are funded by federal grants.

Setting has two officers who keep an eye on LESO and federal grants, a luxury, he acknowledged, that many smaller departments probably can’t afford.

The county has acquired two surplus Humvees “that truly have come in handy in high water and extreme snow events,” Setting said. “And when they offer me more of those, I’m gonna take them.”

But its requirements for assault rifles, he said, are generally fulfilled by weaponry seized off the streets.

“Most of the weapons we have from adjudicated cases are re-purposed,” Setting said, noting that county officers “run across a lot of guns.

“If a weapon can be re-purposed into the SWAT unit, into the Patrol Division because it fits the exact criteria of the county police – and they’re inspected by our range master – then why would we buy one?”

And, he added, “Why would we take [the surplus] when some other agency might need that?”

The department has surplus military rifles, he said, but they’re used by its Honor Guard.

Program’s drawbacks

While the surplus program provides many benefits, it has its drawbacks as well. One lesson users eventually learn, Setting said, is that the free equipment comes with no guarantee of usefulness.

“Somebody says, ‘Hey, guess what: I’m gonna give you 500 ballistic vests,’” Setting said. “And you say, ‘Wow, that is a great deal.’ And you take 500 ballistic vests, and they have a shelf life of six more months.

“So now you’ve got to figure out how you’re gonna get rid of 500 Kevlar vests,” he said.

Topping once procured some winches, which he wanted to mount on the front of his Humvees. They were crated, so he couldn’t inspect them. When he got them back to Georgetown, his vehicle maintenance specialist took a look. They were hydraulic rather than electric, and useless.

“You gotta pick and choose,” Setting said.

There also is the cost of maintaining certain equipment.

“We could really use a helicopter,” Setting said. Delaware, however, provides funding for helicopter acquisition and maintenance only to State Police. “So even if I go and get a helicopter, I can’t afford to maintain it,” Setting said.

“Nothing’s free,” Topping said. “Everything we get has a cost associated with it.”

Contact William H. McMichael at (302) 324-2812 or bmcmichael@delawareonline.com. On Twitter: @billmcmichael

State law enforcement agencies enrolled in the LESO program

• Bethany Beach Police Department

• Blades Police Department

• Bridgeville Police Department

• Cheswold Police Department

• Clayton Police Department

• Dagsboro Police Department

• Delaware Capitol Police Department

• Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation

• Delaware Dept. of Justice Alcohol and Tobacco Division

• Delaware Fish and Wildlife Enforcement

• Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources Police, Environmental Crimes Unit

• Delaware River and Bay Authority

• Delaware State Police

• Delaware City Police Department

• Delmar Police Department

• Dewey Beach Police Department

• Ellendale Police Department

• Fenwick Island Police Department

• Frankford Police Department

• Georgetown Police Department

• Greenwood Police Department

• Harrington Police Department

• Laurel Police Department

• Lewes Police Department

• Middletown Police Department

• Milford Police Department

• Millsboro Police Department

• Milton Police Department

• New Castle City Police Department

• New Castle County Police Department

• Newark Police Department

• Ocean View Police Department

• Rehoboth Beach Police Department

• Selbyville Police Department

• Smyrna Police Department

• University of Delaware Police

Source: Defense Logistics Agency

Top 5 Delaware recipients

Non-tactical military surplus, July 2011-May 2014:

1. Delmar Police: $1,593,949 (original equipment cost)

2. Harrington Police: $1,470,803

3. New Castle City Police: $533,692

4. Division of Parks and Recreation

Natural Resources Police: $522,641

5. Cheswold Police: $460,055

Source: Defense Logistics Agency

Tactical gear distributed in Delaware

By county, Sept. 2009-April 2014

Kent: $1,403,610 (original equipment cost)

4 Humvees

46 5.56 mm M-16 rifles

5 7.62 mm M-14 rifles

18 reflex sights

10 night vision goggles

2 forward-looking infrared radar systems

Sussex: $1,093,312

22 Humvees

25 5.56 mm M-16 rifles

10 7.62 mm M-14 rifles

18 .45-caliber pistols

12 optical sighting and ranging sets

1 explosive ordnance disposal robot

1 bomb suit

2 night vision image intensifiers

5 helmets

New Castle: $700,910

5 Humvees

64 5.56 mm M-16 rifles

5 7.62 mm M-14 rifles

6 reflex sights

41 night vision image intensifiers

Source: Defense Logistics Agency