Funding Police Militarization
What do local law enforcement have to do with the United States Military? As it turns out, apparently a lot.
In 1997, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act. Burried deep inside this legislation was the 1033 Program. What does this program do precisely? The 1033 Program allows the Law Enforcement Support Office to transfer excess Department of Defense property to law enforcement agencies across the United States and its territories. The Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) serves as a bridge between the U.S. military and local law enforcement agencies with oversight conducted by the Pentagon. The LESO has two slogans: “Transferring Property from the Warfighter to the Crimefighter” and “Get with the Program.”
The 1033 Program’s original mission was to provide additional support for the War on Drugs, which commenced back in the 1970s. Increased funding for law enforcement was at this time triggered during the Nixon administration. It was given addtional support from President George W. Bush’s War on Terror, declared in aftermath of 9/11, which provided a massive boost to the militarization of American police forces. Congress decided at this time that if law enforcement personnel were waging a drug war, they needed to be outfitted like warriors.
Serve and Protect or Search and Destroy?
So how many surplus weapons are we talking about? By the end of 2014, the 1033 Program will have transferred over $5 billion worth of military property to local police forces.
During the first six months of 2014, the 1033 Program had transferred almost $750 million (¾ of a billion dollars) worth of equipment–a figure that represents nearly double 2013’s entire yearly total of $450 million. It’s about the same amount transferred through the program from 2000 until 2007.
If we continue at the current rate in 2014, the total dollar value of equipment promises to approximate 1.5 billion dollars. In other words, one third (30%) of the entire 17 years worth of equipment transfers will have been accomplished in 2014 alone.
This is what an MRAP looks like…a nice pretty blue one!
Columbia South Carolina Police Department
U.S. Army unit posing with their MRAP in Iraq
The progressive arming of police departments with military grade hardware is troubling for obvious reasons. Even more troubling is how all of this has occured in spite of the following contradicitions:
- Crime has been trending downward in many parts of the United States for years, falling an estimated 19% between 1987 and 2011.
- The job of being a police officer has become safer, as the number of police killed by gunfire plummeted to 33 in 2013 — a rate that indicates a 50% decrease from 2012. Incidents of police officers being killed on the job are documented to be at their lowest level since the year 1887, a time when the U.S. population was 75% lower than it is today.
- A report by the Justice Policy Institute, a not-for-profit justice reform group, shows that state and local spending on police has soared from $40 billion in 1982 to more than $100 billion in 2012. When you add federal level spending on law enforcement (including FBI, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and much of the Homeland Security Department budget, in addition to federal grants to state and local law enforcement) this more than doubles that total.
- The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that the ranks of state and local law enforcement personnel swelled from 603,000 to 794,000 between 1992 and 2010. This number represents almost two-thirds as many men and women as are presently serving in the entire active-duty US military.
Privatizing Prison Profits
The following short clip offers a critical perspective on these developments and considers them in light of increasing profits that are being made as a result of states outsourcing prision services to private corporations:
What this means is that the large scale deployment of law enforcement personnel armed with military equipment is occuring precisely at a moment in time when crime is trending downward. In short: police activity in America is ramping up at the same time as the crime rate is falling.
Social science research cites a variety of reasons are likely to be driving decreasing crime rates. Experts agree, first of all, that crime rates started falling far in advance of police militarization activity. So it’s not a simple case of increased investment in law enforcement causing crime to fall. The story is a good deal more complex. Some researchers cite increased immigration as a factor which influences the trends down, because of those families’ emphasis on strong family ties. Others point to an aging population—older people commit fewer violent crimes.
But what about terrorism? Isn’t it the case that if we’re fighting them “over there” it’s only a matter of time before we are fighting them “over here?” The nation recieved over 34 billion dollars in federal funding from Homeland Security grants to help local police fight terrorism (some of this money was paid on top of funds for the 1033 program).
All of the equipment transferred under the 1033 Program is considered military surplus. This is provided at no added cost to taxpayers, because it’s already been paid for once with federal income taxes. The only additional funds required are funds for shipping and maintenance. The Pentagon confirmed, however, that more than 1/3 of everything transferred through the 1033 Program is brand new. By creating what is essentially a new “market” for military hardware, defense contractors and the Pentagon have cleared the way to spend more taxpayer dollars on the purchase of newer toys and hardware.
Again, it is important to remember that the 1033 Program was started to combat the War on Drugs. Local police departments thus stand a much greater chance of getting equipment if their jurisdiction falls within one of the designated 28 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas determined by the DEA— this drug surveillance zone covers territory that includes 2 out of 3 (60%) people in the contiguous U.S. Stop now and think about that. Because if you are having any thoughts as you sit here reading this that it’s not likely to impact you and the neighborhood that you live in….that YOU are not a target. You might want to think about that again.
Hey, I’m doing a civic engagement project for school. Can I share the photo that is comparing the troops in Iraq to the police in front of a coffee shop? I want to spread education about police militarization in my community. I’ll put my mom’s contact info below.
The photo was widely circulated on social media and the internet, so no problem. Share away!
As social scientists we are charged with finding solutions to the society’s problems. Yet no social scientist seemed to be consulted during the process of the 1033 Program. The intentions might have been “honorable” in the beginning but morphed into something completely unrecognizable. As the program morphed so did the reasons for its use, which to some extant also makes sense with regards to the current terrorist attacks beginning with 9/11. But since, the metamorphosis, there problem has seems to become worse not better. Where are the experts to reign in this problem? Why are we not displaying these statistics on a billboard? Why is this problem been allowed to grow?
The police spend tons of money on weapons and MRAP that they will never use. All the money can be used for more important stuff. Helping communities out, building better schools, helping college students and building newer homes. They spend all that money on new weapons just because they want them. There are a lot of people who could really use the money to help them out in life.
All the money that is spent on wars was a little disturbing to see. Especially when there are tons of homeless children and their parents living on city streets all over America. I believe that even a fraction of all the money spent here can completely wipe out homelessness in America for some time.
What took me by surprise was how cities were able to get their hands on, basically, tanks to be used at a local community festival. It was a little alarming that public university were also able to acquire MRAP. That really hit home and made me think of all the possible tools or equipment that our federal agencies have. If our local police forces have equipment like this there is no telling what our federal government has; or worse when they’ll use it on American citizens. This article has to be the most unsettling so far because of the knowledge I have gained from our other two articles.
There are so many other things that this money going to military weapons could go to. Things like Schools and health care- IMPORTANT things. There is no reason why local police departments need military equipment. If a situation gets so severe that military guns and tanks need to be used, the military should get involved. The reason why police deaths are so low is because they are spending more time and money protecting themselves with these giant tanks and guns than they are spending protecting average people. Also, all of these steps were taken to fight the war on drugs, but how is an MRAP helping fight this street war? MRAP’s are for the battlefield, not the streets.
civil war used to be against countries, now i see it is a civil war is already in progress against individuals in cities. The U.S. are the assassins that hold global binds, equality, and human morals in downright hatred. People are being tortured for smoking marijuana. Military personnel are trained to kill, so we will see and have seen how far the police will go.
With the increase of money in politics and the cost of elections skyrocketing lobbyist are able to buy our elected officials and representatives before they even get elected. With military companies and contractors being so free with their money it is no wonder that almost every bill includes increased production on an already surplus amount of military equipment. Representatives are pressured to vote for the bill under the pretense that it will save american job and boost the economy, while they spend tax dollars on unneeded weapons.
Why does the government spend so much money on weaponry in general? Yes, I know that it is to protect us, but isn’t there a limit on how much we actually need rather then that of what the commanders want to play with? It seems we spend more money on weaponry than we do on the education of Americans. If we have better education (with the money that should be cut from the supposed $5 billion from the weaponry) for Americans, we could possibly make better weapons which in turn can out beat what the competition has and the American military could have better equipment. I understand that there is always going to be better weaponry, where someone always has to out-do the rest, but if America invests in the people of the future (today’s children/students) we could have a leg up in this competition on the War of Drugs.
I find it absolutely crazy that we have so many military weapons . Police officers are not being trained for the war. They are not the ones fighting other countries for our freedom to need these weapons . It is a total waste of money and could be going towards something way more important such as our tuition . Instead of spending so much money on weapons that are clearly not needed for local police officers, give the money to people who actually need the help . The people in school today are the future leaders and workers of the world, spending money on weapons are not helping us at all. As soon as we are out of school we already in debt of around $20,000 approximately, what kind of start in the world is that when we have funds that can reduce this issue ? I actually remember seeing a MRAP in the town I am currently living in. The local police were doing a drug raid and was using a truck just like these . The first thought that came to mind when I saw the truck was, is this really necessary ? Do you guys really need a military truck for a raid ? I believe this whole situation is getting out of control and the people in charge need to make some major adjustments.
I checked for you comment under the “Soldier or Police Officer” section and do not see it under items pending. Could you please repost? Thanks./s
After reading this article I could not believe how much of war equipment was transferred to local police officers. I was also disgusted by the picture with two men in Afghanistan and two men outside a coffee shop in America. I believe that police officers should not be suited up like soldiers, or even carry around some of the same weapons. I understand at times we may need some stronger equipment and weapons when tragedies happen like 9/11 and so on, but we should leave it to the people higher up, like SWAT teams and military who are based in America. There’s no need for police officers to look like soldiers outside of a coffee shop. People in that area may feel like because their police officers are dressed like that, they may not be in a very safe place.
The Picture of the MRAP in South Carolina, I find to be kind of ridiculous. I am not sure what something as big as that is going to do in a town or city, but I feel that it is unnecessary and a waste of money. What are MRAP’s in local towns and cities suppose to find? I think it is used to scare people and show power more than anything else. According to this article it says that crime rates have gone down, but police militarization is going up…this makes no sense.
The map clearly shows the collaboration between the military and the police and it is very disturbing to see that how small towns with small population are receiving grenade launchers and MRAPs, while the crime rates are falling. It frightens me to think about the state of New Jersey which has a popultaion close to 9 million, what is the police going to request from the military: tanks and helicopters in order to “meet any threat”
After reading this article I was very shocking to see how when the militarization is going up the crime rate is going down. The government isn’t allowing citizens much privacy at all which is forcing the police to go into combat a little bit more. When a civilian doesn’t do exactly what the police says they should not be attacking them. This has had a positive and negative effect on people because some people like it since it forces people to take hold of the law and actually be afraid not to. i do not think police should be using any type of weapons that are on a military level since it is not necessary. I think this should be stopped and put to rest, and the police should go back to being the ones people look up to not the ones that people are afraid of.
Normally money is poured into things that need change or need to be better and updated but however it is clear with the DECREASING crime stats that policing does not need millions of dollars worth of new and militarized equipment. Police are supposed to for citizens to protect and serve they are not supposed to be like the military, they shouldn’t be fighting for anything other then keeping the peace and people safe. There should be no war on our home front and by supplying our police forces with new equipment is just allowing for misuse and more misunderstandings between police and the citizens they are supposed to be protecting. If they spent half that amount of money on training and better people skills they would need even less weapons because they would have the most important thing, knowledge; which used to be considered the biggest weapon now it’s whatever can inflict the most fear.
I don’t understand why any of these militarization tools are a necessity in the first place to combat the drug war. In my opinion everything seems to be over the top and definately doesnt make civillians feel any safer. the statistics showing that this affects 60% of the U.S. is alarming as this is a recent change that has affected america in a really short amount of time. This makes me wonder about how America’s police force will look like within the next ten to twenty years. I don’t feel like the American Law Enforcement is making a smart choice and this will definately negatively affect our country if nothing is done to reform this movement.
It is crazy how much money is spent on all of these toys. It’s funny to me how the article mentions that if we are fighting over there eventually we will be fighting here. And I honestly believe that. There’s NO reason for us to have military tanks on our streets, or machine guns and all the unnecessary toys for civilians. Reading articles like this just makes me afraid for my child on what future she will eventually live in. High college tuition and military guns on our neighborhood streets. It just makes me open my eyes and realize that we are definitely not the land of the free, we are the land of fear. If people don’t start realizing what’s going on they will just be stuck in slavery.
Well, I’m still over here trying to grasp the exact motive of this absolutely absurd transfer (worth BILLIONS) of equipment going from the military to the police base. Especially being that I’m looking at the decrease of crime stats at the same time! I’m just wondering how exactly this can be??? How the law enforcement can actually act in such a wasteful manner? How they can just completely shift enormous amounts of money all toward one specific department in which is absolutely unnecessary? A department in which “the number of police killed by gunfire plummeted to 33 in 2013 — a rate that indicates a 50% decrease from 2012”? I mean, I’m sure, I’m sure if we were to hear from the perspective of the “1033 Program” representative, for example, on why all of these materials are, in fact, being transferred, we would probably get a more or less understanding of their intuitive decision. Nonetheless, we are talking BILLIONS! I mean, amounts and values that can just never be replaced or taken back. It would probably be more easy to comprehend this situation if we were going through extreme moments of tragedy but actually, it’s almost like we’re fine but we’re ASKING for the tragedy, we’re asking for the war. The police force is almost offending their own people, pulling them away, treating them as if they did not belong. It’s uncomfortable. it’s uncomfortable to know that our police force is being equipped with MILITARY machinery.
It is shocking, that the militarization is increasing at the same time that the crime rate is decreasing. It shows that the government is slowly going about limiting civilian privacy and rights by making the police more into a combat unit then a department that would deal with local problems such as writing tickets or helping someone out in the town; not attacking civilians or forcing to obey the police department. It is good that the crime rate has fallen over the recent years, but this is practically the same thing as having the crimes since much of the police does the same thing if not worse at times. Also it is ridiculous for local police to own the MRAP vehicles, or other gear that would have been used by the military, simply because they do not need it. More likely, police/swat would use the gear on innocent people because they would want to “play or test out the new gear”, where else would they use it then in a riot, or during a drug search. This should be stopped; yet, people do not notice or do anything about it.
So much unnecessary money is being spent where it does not need to be. There is no need for the military to send over their equipment so buy brand new toys so that the old toys can be passed onto local police. Tax payer money is being spent on providing the local police with military weapons when this money can be spent on bettering our country as a whole. As mentioned above, this money can basically be used to pay fully for college tuition for American citizens. Now thats something to brag about and be proud of. What really got my attention and put it in perspective for me was the picture of the two sets of men. Both pictures looked like they were both ready for war, when one was actually in front of a coffee shop. If the crime is going down why do we need more weapons and toys?
I couldn’t agree more. Spending tax payers money on college tuition is something to be proud of and brag about. All this money being spent on military equipments is so unnecessary. I can understand in a way that they want to keep their equipments up to date but this is not couple thousands, its millions. There are so many students out here that are not enrolled in school because they simply can’t afford it, student who drop out because they can’t afford it, students with enormous amount of debt by the time they graduate because they took out loans – all to get a degree and contribute to our society. The picture of the two soldiers infront of the coffee shop is jaw dropping. They make it seem as if civilians carry around ak47s and explosives in our pockets just waiting for the right moment to attack. Why do they need all the equipment on them infront of a coffee shop? We are not a threat. It just doesn’t make sense that we continue to pour out tax payers money to the military when crimes rates has been decreasing way before the investments. Do they want to believe that crime rates are decreasing because they are getting more weapons? Because its not.
I can not believe how much tax payer money is spent by the government providing local police with military weapons and vehicles. What was interesting to me was the map of the United States that showed what states received MRAPs and for what cause. Some of the reasons were a complete joke like Ohio needing one for Ohio State football games. Tax payers should not see their money being shipped in the form of a MRAP to control crowds at a college football game.
Another interesting point was how much crime has gone down in recent years but the deployment of large scale personnel armed with military equipment is on the rise. This makes no sense to me and just tells me that these armed police officers are going to look for any reason to use their nice new shiny weapons and vehicles.
When reading this article and looking at the pictures I feel it’s crazy how much money the United States wastes each year on military weapons and toys. They could use this money on other tings like helping the people in poverty, giving out more financial aid to students who are in need, freeing some of the soldiers that are in the war, and finally having the college tuition go down. The police force and the military have plenty of supplies to last them for a very long time so there should be no need to get supplies as often as they do. One thing that really shocked me was the picture of the two sets of men who were in Afghanistan and the two men who were outside the coffee shop in America both of them look ready for battle with all of there weapons and toys in hand. Also another interesting picture was of the blue MRAP that Colombia South Carolina had and then the one with the US army unit in Iraq. I can understand that the people fighting in Iraq need the MRAP but there is no need for South Carolina to have one of those. I feel there is no need to spend money on things that don’t benefit or help the country.
I think it is absolutely ridiculous that all of this money, billions of dollars, are going to basically expand the military into local areas, when there are millions of people sitting in poverty with absolutely no help from the government. This money could be spent in much better ways, how about free college tuition? Or more financial aid to anyone in need? The local police have enough equipment already, I feel as though they don’t need these military tanks driving around peaceful neighborhoods. While I live in a pretty quiet town where nothing crazy bad usually happens, I don’t see it necessary to basically have soldiers walking the streets. It seems like there used to be a pretty clear line between police officers and military personnel, a line that is clearly being crossed recently.
The rapid rate in which the police forces are becoming militarized is alarming. It seems as though the original intention of arming the police with military equipment has spiraled out of control considering in the first 6 months of 2014 the 1033 Program transferred almost ¾ of a billion dollars worth of equipment. It is nearly double the transferred amount of 2013. The amount of military equipment being transferred seems to be unnecessary.
That’s a lot of money that could have been spent on college tuition. Imagine that. College could be free for everyone in this country if we didn’t spend all our money on war toys.
The picture of the two men who are at War in Afghanistan and the two men who are outside a coffee shop in America is alarming. They look exactly the same, except one is of two men in the military and the other two are police officers. Police forces are becoming militarized and it was mentioned that, “by the end of 2014, the 1033 Program will have transferred over $5 billion worth of military proper to local police forces.” Furthermore, proving that police are becoming militarized and we should be concerned. Why is military property being transferred to police forces? Is this really necessary? Also, why do we need MRAPs in America? It’s not like we are at War like in Iraq where these vehicles are necessary. Especially if crime rates have been diminishing, why are police forces acting in a militarized manner? This makes no sense. “Police activity in America is ramping up at the same time as the crime rate is falling.” MRAPs are not necessary and the equipment that police forces receive from the surplus of military equipment is pointless. Yeah, it may be cool but is it really essential..
I had a very similar reaction when viewing that photo. Ever since reading the article by Balko where he questions the term “War on Drugs” I have been questioning it as well. While violence definitely goes hand in hand with certain situations surrounded drugs, should we really be referring to it as a war? The drugs are not fighting back, it really feels like propoganda. If we really must use the word war I feel we should at least consider it a war against drug users, dealers, suppliers etc. Furthermore, thinking about local police officers being equipped the same way members of the military are does not seem appropriate at all. While both groups going through intensive training, I don’t believe the training for these police officers who are being handed all of this equipment is the same as the training for the military. Additionally, they are certainly not in the same setting, so why are they becoming equipped the same way?
so….these cities/towns or what have you have these MRAPs – umm im not sure that thing would fit down the street where i live if an incident were to occur and it was “needed” for whatever reason…this is all to fight the war on drugs? hmmm…okay…(no sarcasm im just letting the idea marinate)….how is an MRAP going to find drugs? (looks around) im just saying…this is a little over the top i think…also – the numbers show crime is decreasing yet were preparing for war when things are actually cooling down…maybe i just havent read up on it all thoroughly to be knowledgeable about it wholly – but it seems like too much is being done when theres not much going on…so much so that regular PD makes the coffee shop in NYC look like a war zone….i think im going to disagree with this being a necessity within some of the communities mentioned.