In 1990, congress enacted the National Defense Authorization Act. Section 1208 of the NDAA allowed the Secretary of Defense to transfer excess military hardware to federal and state agencies. In 1996, Congress replaced Section 1208 with Section 1033. This program allowed state, city and local governments to request the military hardware at no cost.
Since the winding down of two wars: Afghanistan and Iraq, the defense department has acquired a large stockpile of military hardware it no longer needs. Local and state governments claimed that they needed the excess military hardware to fight the drug wars and domestic terrorism. These weapons included: vehicles (land, air and sea), weapons, computer equipment, fingerprint equipment, night vision equipment, radios and televisions, first aid equipment, tents and sleeping bags, photographic equipment and much more. A small town in North Carolina with a population of 16,000, the Roanoke Rapids Police Department Humvees and a Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs). Matt Apuzzojune wrote that:
“During the Obama administration, according to Pentagon data, police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.” He further pointed out that the equipment was added to police departments making them look like military units whether than police departments. Hank Johnson and Michael Shank stated that in the last few months:
“ the following towns around the country, many of them small, have acquired free MRAPs from U.S. war zones: Texas's McLennan and Dallas Counties; Idaho's Boise and Nampa; Indiana's West Lafayette, Merrillville, and Madison; Minnesota's St. Cloud and Dakota County; New York's Warren and Jefferson Counties; South Carolina's North Augusta and Columbia; Tennessee's Murfreesboro; Arizona's Yuma; Illinois's Kankakee County; and Alabama's Calhoun County.”
The New York Times who have been conducting a study of the 1033 program reported that since 2006 police departments have acquired 435 armored vehicles, 533 planes, 93, 763 machine guns, and 432 MRAPs. Since the program went into existed local police departments have received $4.4 billion in military hardware. The value of the hardware used by the departments has increased from $1 million in 1990 to 324 million in 2013.
“Law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at every level of government, have been blurring the line between police officer and soldier. Driven by martial rhetoric and the availability of military-style equipment — from bayonets and M–16 rifles to armored personnel carriers — American police forces have often adopted a mind-set previously reserved for the battlefield.”
Jamelle Bouie is a staff writer for the slate writing for the Dallas News wrote that:” If you know anything about the racial disparities in the criminal justice system, then it also shouldn’t shock you to learn that SWAT deployments are used disproportionately in black and Latino neighborhoods. The ACLU finds that 50 percent of those impacted by SWAT deployments were black and Latino. Of these deployments, 68 percent were for drug searches. And a substantial number of drug searches — 60 percent — involved violent tactics to force entry, which lead predictably and avoidably to senseless injury and death,” and further:
“The ubiquity of SWAT teams has changed not only the way officers look, but also the way departments view themselves. Recruiting videos feature clips of officers storming into homes with smoke grenades and firing automatic weapons.” Put simply, when you give anyone toys, you have to expect they’ll play with them.”
In Ferguson, out of 55 police offices, only 3 are black or minority. The city has one Black person on the commission even though 65% of the population is Black. The unemployment rate among black youth is 20%, arrest and stops are 80-90%, and the city has a long history of racial discrimination. The socioeconomic conditions in Ferguson are a microcosm of what exist in many cities around the country.
It was reported that around 100 unarmed black men are killed each month in cities like Florida, New York and Los Angles. Many parents in these cities are instructing their children on how to respond when they encounter the police. As local police departments become more militarized, they create an environment where young black men are seen as thugs, law breakers or enemies in the community. As more unarmed teen are killed, it will surely lead to more urban disturbances.
Sources:
Local Cops Ready for War with Homeland Security-Funded Military Weapons
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/20/local-cops-ready-for-war-with-homeland-security-funded-military-weapons.html
War Gear Flows to Police Departments by MATT APUZZOJUNE 8, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html
The militarization of city police forces
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140814-the-militarization-of-city-police-forces.ece
How America’s Police Became an Army: The 1033 Program, by Taylor Wofford\
http://www.newsweek.com/how-americas-police-became-army-1033-program-264537
Police officer safety or surplus zeal: Military equipment spurs debate
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/06/07/police-officer-safety-surplus-zeal-military-equipment-spurs-debate-mrap-military-vehicle/10170225/
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