What becomes of the troves of supplies, armored trucks, firearms and other artifacts of war when the US military either winds down one of its ongoing occupations or purchases new equipment from one of the many military-industrial contractors?
Small town municipalities are gifted Defense Department goody-bags with the often-troubling result of transforming local police departments into military police states, according to an Associated Press investigation of this national giveaway.
The report describes a number of absurd examples such as police chiefs with closets full of bayonets, treadmills, hammocks, meat slicers and army-issue gym shorts. More pointedly, however, are the small-town stockpiles of munitions and armored vehicles which have effectively transformed many local police departments into “paramilitary forces.”
Police Chief Lynwood Yates, of the 700-person town of Morven, Ga., told AP that he “formed a SWAT team, arming it with surplus military rifles, a Humvee and an armored personnel carrier.”
They continue:
“The harm for me is that it further militarizes American law enforcement,” said retired Seattle police chief, Norm Stamper, in response to the report. “We make a serious mistake, I’m convinced, in equipping domestic law enforcement, particularly in smaller, rural communities, with this much military equipment.”
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