Military equipment

Trump to roll back Obama's crackdown on military equipment for local police

By LOUIS NELSON

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday rescinding former President Barack Obama's restrictions on the transfer of military-style equipment from the Department of Defense to local law enforcement agencies.

In remarks before the Fraternal Order of Police in Nashville, Tennessee, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is set to announce that Trump will undo Obama’s executive order blocking the Pentagon from transferring such equipment to local law enforcement. The order will take effect Monday and will instruct executive branch agencies to take steps to undo directives, guidelines and policies related to the Obama order.

Obama’s order came in the wake of violent riots in Ferguson, Missouri, in which police controversially used armored vehicles and other heavy, military-type equipment in efforts to quell protests sparked by the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police. Many blamed the use of such imposing equipment for inciting tensions that ultimately turned violent.

Among the previously restricted equipment that will potentially once again be available to law enforcement are body armor, riot shields, firearms, ammunition, and computers, according to a Justice Department document. Also potentially available will be grenade launchers — used by law enforcement to fire non-lethal projectiles like bean bags, paint balls and tear gas — as well as tracked, armored vehicles, aircraft, explosives and battering rams.

In addition to allowing the Pentagon to once again transfer surplus equipment to law enforcement agencies, Trump’s executive order will also return to full funding grant programs that allowed law enforcement to purchase new the types of equipment in question. Under the statute that initially allowed for the transfer of such equipment, law enforcement agencies must certify that they have adopted publicly-available protocols before they can acquire military-style gear.

In a document detailing the president’s order, the Justice Department suggests that while controversial, the distribution of military-style equipment ultimately keeps both law enforcement officers and the communities they protect safer. As examples, the document cites the use of an armored vehicle in the police response to a 2015 terrorist shooting in San Bernardino, California, and a military-style helmet that stopped a bullet and saved the life of an officer responding to a 2016 terrorist shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

“It represents a policy shift toward ensuring officers have the tools they need to reduce crime and keep their communities safe,” the Justice Department document said. “It sends the message that we care more about public safety than about how a piece of equipment looks, especially when that equipment has been shown to reduce crime, reduce complaints against and assaults on police, and make officers more effective.”