A Pentagon program that distributes military surplus gear to local law enforcement allows even agencies the Justice Department has censured for civil rights violations to apply for and get lethal weaponry.
That lack of communication between two Cabinet agencies adds to questions about a program under review in the aftermath of the militarized police response to protesters in Ferguson, Mo.
The Pentagon, which provides the free surplus military equipment, says its consultation with the Justice Department will be looked at as the government reviews how to prevent high-powered weaponry from flowing to the untrustworthy.
The Justice Department has opened civil rights investigations into the practices of about 20 police departments in the past five years, with the Ferguson force the latest. The investigations sometimes end in negotiated settlements known as consent decrees that mandate reforms. Yet being flagged as problematic by Washington does not bar a police department from participating in the program.
“Given the fact that they’re under a consent decree, it would make sense that the Department of Defense and Department of Justice coordinate on any such requests, (but) that is currently not the state,” said Jim Bueermann, who heads the nonprofit Police Foundation.
At a Senate hearing this month, Alan Estevez, a Defense Department official who oversees the program, acknowledged that consultation with the Justice Department was “lacking,” and he said that would be reviewed. Under questioning, he acknowledged the Pentagon does not take federal civil rights investigations into account in shipping out weapons, but that could change.
In Warren, Ohio, the police department in 2012 reached a settlement with the Justice Department to resolve an investigation into a pattern of excessive force and illegal searches. The department, which expects to have nearly 70 officers soon, recently ordered 30 M16 rifles as part of the program, Police Chief Eric Merkel said.
“We don’t have an issue here with brandishing firearms and shooting people. That’s not the reason the Department of Justice came in here to begin with,” Merkel said. “I think the public reasonably expects their police department to be armed with a level that at least matches what they might be coming up against.”
The Pentagon program was authorized by Congress in 1990 to help fight drugs, with terrorism-fighting a more recent objective.
The Defense Department views the program, which has handed out more than $5.1 billion in military property since it started, primarily as a way to get rid of equipment it no longer needs. Equipment, much of it nontactical gear such as sleeping bags and filing cabinets, is provided first-come, first-served.
But images of police responding to Ferguson protesters with tear gas, armored vehicles and in riot gear raised new scrutiny about who was getting the equipment and whether law enforcement agencies were receiving proper training.
The Defense Logistics Agency, a Pentagon branch that reviews the applications, looks at the department’s justification for its request and ensures that administrative requirements are met, DLA spokeswoman Michelle McCaskill said.
“Bottom line is they just don’t say ‘we want it’ and they get it. There is a vetting process,” McCaskill said.
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