RTClose to 200 state and local police departments in the United States have been suspended for losing military-level equipment transferred to them by the Pentagon, a new investigation found.
According to the media outlet Fusion, its independent investigation into the Pentagon’s “1033 program,” which equips state and local police departments across the US with excess military equipment, turned up an alarming trend: Not only did many law enforcement agencies fail to comply with the program’s guidelines, they routinely lost dangerous weaponry.
Already, the investigation has found that police departments in Arizona, California, Mississippi, Missouri, Georgia, and others have lost or cannot account for various types of weapons. This list includes M14 and M16 assault rifles, .45-caliber pistols, shotguns, and even vehicles.
So far, 184 state and local departments have reportedly been suspended in a program that involves the participation of more than 8,000 agencies. Since 1990, the 1033 program has administered more than $4.3 billion worth of equipment and weapons.
In the wake of heavy police response to protests surrounding the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the topic of police militarization has emerged at the forefront of public debate in the US. Police employed heavily armored vehicles, sniper rifles, tear gas, and riot gear as they confronted demonstrators against excessive force, sparking widespread concern throughout the country, particularly over the Pentagon’s military equipment transfer program.
Although the Pentagon stated the program is meant to “enhance public safety and improve homeland security,” critics argue that the inability of police to keep track of their equipment adds another layer of doubt to the idea that security is being improved.
“The case for giving military weaponry to these small police departments was already thin in the beginning,” Tim Lynch of the CATO Institute’s project on criminal justice said to Fusion. “Now that we’re finding that there is insufficient accountability for tracking this equipment, then the case is beginning to fall apart.”
In at least two cases, Humvees were reported missing. In Georgia, the Humvee was reportedly sold somehow, only to be recovered later and moved to a different department. Another case in Arkansas involved a stolen Humvee that was not reported until a day later.
Firearms were routinely lost or misplaced. In Arizona alone, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department lost 11 or 12 weapons.
“[The program] is obviously very sloppy, and it’s another reason that Congress needs to revisit this promptly,” Lynch added. “We don’t know where these weapons are going, whether they are really lost, or whether there is corruption involved.”
As RT reported previously, questions over the Pentagon program have reached President Obama as well, as he recently ordered a review of the entire operation. The probe will determine whether or not police should actually be receiving the equipment they get, the way these weapons are being used, and whether officers are being trained properly.
http://rt.com/usa/183000-police-departments-lose-military-weaponry/
Weapons do not lose themselves. If I were a corrupt cop, (which I believe most of today’s cops are) I would love to take some of the guns home. I’ll bet the “lost” weapons are in the personal collections of various cops in departments that “lost” them.
perhaps with some of their combined IQs they figured out those same weapons and used equipment (which by the way was cheaper) was to keep them underfoot and happy thus keeping us underfoot and unhappy that they accepted from their unhappy overlords will eventually be taken from them possibly from the invaders only to be used against them. irony meet karma.
Right into the pockets of those niggerery police. Who steals from cops? COPS
My local cop shop is sells machine guns out the back door, has weekly specials on hand grenades, and their MRAP has a “For Sale” sign in the window.
The price of steroids must be going through the roof.
A prior article mentioned that “armaments provided by the Pentagon, if not used by the Leo’s within one year, would have to be returned to the government, or given to other Leo’s.” I will bet that those who were facing losing their toys, before the year was up, just took them home. Give me toys to play with, and I would take them home also.
the other thing they might start doing to keep from losing them is to MAKE up shtuff to use them on
get what im sayin?
As exactly as happened in Fergerson.
Suspended for losing military equipment?
But let’s not suspend them when they kill innocent people at routine traffic stops. No, that’s clearly different.
Unfrigginbelievable……
In any case, the cops either stole them OR the government/military industrial complex told them to secretly hand them over to the illegal immigrants and MS-13 gang members who have been invading our country, so when the time comes, their band of militants will be equipped for battle against the American people, while the elite just sit back and relax while we kill each other. In the meantime, the government/military industrial complex will make the police departments become the scapegoats.