One of the most overblown and poorly thought-out federal policy changes in recent years reduced law enforcement’s access to the 1033 program. Authorized in 1990, this program allowed police to scoop up military surplus. A lot of this equipment was used by SWAT and other high-risk teams, allowing them to make dangerous entries and protect themselves when deployed. But the program came under fire during the Obama years, when critics characterized it as “militarizing law enforcement.” I find that label ironic.
Police are quasi-military in both command structure and mission; they’ve been that way throughout modern times. Law enforcement in general shares many of the military’s characteristics, from discipline and organizational structure to training and officers’ willingness to put the safety of others above their own. I believe giving police old, surplus armored vehicles in no way encourages increased militarization. Instead, it adds an additional level of safety in dangerous situations while also minimizing civilian casualties. That’s a win-win any way you look at it.
When Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced to an audience of FOP members that the restrictions on the 1033 program had been rolled back, his news was greeted with applause and sighs of relief. But that didn’t stop legislators from weighing in with objections.
In an Associated Press article that said local police departments will soon have access to high-caliber weapons and grenade launchers, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) proclaimed the rollback as a move that would subsidize police militarization, while Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) said that, in his opinion, the program, “incentivizes the militarization of local police departments, as they are encouraged to grab more equipment than they need.”
I disagree. Paul’s and Sanford’s voting records underscore their less-than-enthusiastic support of the military, while highlighting a relatively shallow knowledge of how law enforcement actually operates. Comments like theirs are not only indicative of how ill-informed some of our lawmakers are, they also do a grave disservice to the LEOs who need and use that equipment.
LEOs should have appropriate protection when doing their jobs and that’s simply not negotiable. Ill-considered statements like those by Paul and Sanford, combined with reporting that routinely emphasizes an anti-police bias, serves only to fire-up public outrage, while providing politicians a platform from which to pontificate. Lost in all of this verbal posturing is the indisputable fact that this discarded equipment saves the lives of hostages, LEOs and innocent bystanders.
The military surplus cities and counties obtain via the 1033 program are usually things underfunded departments wouldn’t be able to secure any other way. The bottom line is the military no longer needs this equipment—and we do. Seems like a pretty simple equation.
To be blunt, we can’t afford to dance around safety concerns. It’s easy to criticize what you don’t understand. Highlighting negativity instead of believing in the integrity of the agencies who will use this cast-off equipment to save lives is both cowardly and sad. But then, it’s easy to criticize when you aren’t the one gearing up to respond to a hostage situation with inadequate equipment, isn’t it?
A 12-year veteran of police work, Carole Moore has served in patrol, forensics, crime prevention and criminal investigations, and has extensive training in many law enforcement disciplines. She is the author of “The Last Place You’d Look: True Stories of Missing Persons and the People Who Search for Them” (Rowman & Littlefield, Spring 2011). She welcomes comments at [email protected].
