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Trump Wants to Re-Militarize the Police. Montana Is Having None of It
Trump Wants to Re-Militarize the Police. Montana Is Having None of It.
August 30, 2017
A 2015 state law refused drones, grenade launchers, and other military gear. Some see it as a roadmap.
To hear civil libertarians tell it, Montana’s recent push to de-militarize the police has its roots in the Bozeman BearCat incident of 2014. The city’s police department bought a 17,000-pound armored vehicle—a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck, or “BearCat”—with money from the federal Homeland Security Grant Program. But it did so without the knowledge of the City Commission, and public outcry ensued. “Some commenters went to the police department’s Facebook page, usually known for its campy morning posts, and chastised the department for getting such a vehicle,” The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported. Soon, the hashtag #senditback began to circulate. Critics in this city of 45,000 worried that souped-up gear would start to make their local police department look more like a military force.
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And it wasn’t just one shiny new BearCat—or one federal grant—they had to worry about. Since 1990, the Defense Department has transferred over $5.4 billion in surplus military equipment to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies across the country through its “1033 Program.” As the Washington Post explained last week, the equipment has included “armored vehicles, riot gear, rifles, ammunition and computers that had been scrapped by the Defense Department,” and it all comes remarkably cheap. The only fee the local forces have to pay is shipping.
After much debate, the Bozeman City Commission ended up voting to keep the BearCat, but the controversy led to action at the state level in 2015, with Democratic Governor Steve Bullock signing a Republican-sponsored bill passed with bipartisan support. The Montana law blocks state and local police departments from receiving certain equipment from the 1033 Program, namely weaponized drones, aircraft configured for combat, grenade launchers, silencers, and militarized armored vehicles. Police are free to request other kinds of military surplus equipment from the federal government, but they must notify the public within 14 days of doing so.
(snip)
“If Montana can do it, every state can do it,” Sinyangwe told me. “It’s a really important piece of legislation.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/144600/trump-wants-re-militarize-police-montana-none-it?utm_content=buffer7880f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
August 30, 2017
A 2015 state law refused drones, grenade launchers, and other military gear. Some see it as a roadmap.
To hear civil libertarians tell it, Montana’s recent push to de-militarize the police has its roots in the Bozeman BearCat incident of 2014. The city’s police department bought a 17,000-pound armored vehicle—a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck, or “BearCat”—with money from the federal Homeland Security Grant Program. But it did so without the knowledge of the City Commission, and public outcry ensued. “Some commenters went to the police department’s Facebook page, usually known for its campy morning posts, and chastised the department for getting such a vehicle,” The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported. Soon, the hashtag #senditback began to circulate. Critics in this city of 45,000 worried that souped-up gear would start to make their local police department look more like a military force.
Most Popular
And it wasn’t just one shiny new BearCat—or one federal grant—they had to worry about. Since 1990, the Defense Department has transferred over $5.4 billion in surplus military equipment to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies across the country through its “1033 Program.” As the Washington Post explained last week, the equipment has included “armored vehicles, riot gear, rifles, ammunition and computers that had been scrapped by the Defense Department,” and it all comes remarkably cheap. The only fee the local forces have to pay is shipping.
After much debate, the Bozeman City Commission ended up voting to keep the BearCat, but the controversy led to action at the state level in 2015, with Democratic Governor Steve Bullock signing a Republican-sponsored bill passed with bipartisan support. The Montana law blocks state and local police departments from receiving certain equipment from the 1033 Program, namely weaponized drones, aircraft configured for combat, grenade launchers, silencers, and militarized armored vehicles. Police are free to request other kinds of military surplus equipment from the federal government, but they must notify the public within 14 days of doing so.
(snip)
“If Montana can do it, every state can do it,” Sinyangwe told me. “It’s a really important piece of legislation.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/144600/trump-wants-re-militarize-police-montana-none-it?utm_content=buffer7880f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer