Molly Redden at Mother Jones (via Kilgore) has the real scoop on why US local police forces are acquiring all that ridiculous heavy weaponry and those MRAPs. It’s a bureaucratic boondoggle!
According to interviews with state officials running point between the Pentagon and police, the Defense Department prefers to leave equipment in circulation whenever possible. “It’s a low-cost storage method for them,” says Robb Davis, the mayor pro tem of Davis. His town is trying to shake its MRAP. “They’re dumping these vehicles on us and saying, ‘Hey, these are still ours, but you have to maintain them for us.'”
Police departments, in most cases, bear the costs of shipping the equipment to its new home. Making things more difficult, as the Defense Department reevaluates the program this fall, the agency temporarily closed the portion of its website that allows police departments to request returns.
Not quite buying that explanation. Loaning the surplus military equipment to police departments keeps it out of the hands of arms dealers (big business in the international community). But, it’s been declared surplus and the military doesn’t want it back — in working condition or not. It’s not needed because all of it has been replaced with brand new, shiny equipment. Nothing like an equipment budget with no constraints.
Dan Froomkin: Defense Contractors Making a Killing
Certainly didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. What I’m doubtful about is the idea that somebody in the Pentagon really believes the local police departments need that stuff–they’re solving their surplus problem without thinking at all of the consequences of making the precincts look like occupation garrisons. And of course without thinking of the obvious solution of buying less stuff.
buying less stuff would be unAmerican. And that’s not good for the economy. Military equipment manufacturers employ a lot a people (and have cleverly been located in a high percentage of Congressional districts) and provide good returns to their investors.
Odds are good that the thinking didn’t go beyond considering what was good for the equipment manufacturers. OTOH, militarizing local police would be appealing to many in the USG; so, can’t completely discount that some like that weren’t involved in the thinking. But anyone in the general public that suggests such a thing would be labeled a CT nut.