From xxxxxx <[email protected]>
Subject New Study: Militarizing the Police Doesn’t Reduce Crime
Date December 22, 2020 1:05 AM
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[A federal program created by Congress more than 30 years ago
transferred 80,000 rifles, 12,000 bayonets, 4,000 combat knives,
nearly 500 ‘bomb detonator robots,’ 50 airplanes, ‘night-vision
sniper scopes,’ and more to local police. ] [[link removed]]

NEW STUDY: MILITARIZING THE POLICE DOESN’T REDUCE CRIME  
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Brad Polumbo
December 9, 2020
Foundation for Economic Education
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_ A federal program created by Congress more than 30 years ago
transferred 80,000 rifles, 12,000 bayonets, 4,000 combat knives,
nearly 500 ‘bomb detonator robots,’ 50 airplanes, ‘night-vision
sniper scopes,’ and more to local police. _

, PixaBay

 

Most Americans are probably unaware that police departments across the
country have access to grenade launchers, drones, armored vehicles,
and other military-grade equipment. But they do, thanks to an obscure
federal policy allowing the military to transfer surplus equipment to
law enforcement. 

New research casts doubt on the principal justification for this
program: police safety and crime reduction. Meanwhile, critics say it
makes police abuse more likely. 

The policy itself is known as the “1033 Program.”
[[link removed].]
First created by Congress more than 30 years ago, it allowed for the
transfer of military equipment to the police for use in the War on
Drugs
[[link removed]].
Eventually, lawmakers expanded the policy to encompass essentially all
law enforcement purposes.

According to the Department of Defense
[[link removed]],
roughly 8,200 law enforcement agencies across the country participate
in the program. In total, the military has transferred more than $7.4
billion worth of equipment to local police departments. 

An _NPR_ investigation
[[link removed]]
into the program’s record from 2006 to 2014 found that it
transferred 80,000 rifles, 12,000 bayonets, 4,000 combat knives,
nearly 500 “bomb detonator robots,” 50 airplanes, “night-vision
sniper scopes,” and more to local police.

In 2015, the Obama administration put modest limitations on the kind
of equipment that could be transferred via the 1033 Program. However,
_USA Today_ explains
[[link removed]],
the Department of Justice rolled back these restrictions in 2017,
restoring the status quo. 

Looking at more recent data, _Yahoo News_ reports
[[link removed]]
that some of the equipment transferred in 2019 was non-controversial,
like standard vehicles and day-to-day supplies. But it notes that
other equipment included grenade launchers, “Mine-Resistant Ambush
Protected (MRAP) vehicles designed to withstand Improvised Explosive
Devices (IEDs) in war zones,” and military-grade drones that cost up
to $22 million.

In sum, there’s no disputing the fact that our policies have
militarized the police. The only debate is whether giving police
officers, who undoubtedly have a dangerous job, military equipment
actually improves public safety as proponents insist.

A new peer-reviewed study
[[link removed]]
concludes this just isn’t so. 

Researchers from Louisiana State University and Emory University
examined data from the 1033 Program’s record and found no evidence
that it reduced crime in any meaningful way. It debunks past studies
that purported to show such an effect and explains why those data were
faulty.

“The most important thing for policy makers and the public to know
is that you can’t justify giving surplus military equipment to
police departments on the grounds it will lead to a reduction in
crime,” Emory Professor Tom Clark said. “There is no evidence for
that.” 

Not only is there ample evidence that this kind of equipment fails to
protect public safety, there’s further proof that it fails to
protect police officers. According to a study
[[link removed]]
of 9,000 law enforcement agencies in the US, this equipment has had no
bearing on the number of officers killed or harmed in the line of
duty.

Most concerning of all, other evidence
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shows that the militarization of police has led to worsening
relationships between citizens and officers. It has caused a change in
the mentality of how police view the citizens they serve and led to an
increased use
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of weapons of war against Americans.

So what now? With no public safety benefit and an obvious threat of
abuse, legislators should immediately seek to scale back the
militarization of the police. With no public safety benefit and an
obvious threat of abuse, legislators should immediately seek to scale
back the militarization of the police.

Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democratic Senator Brian Schatz have
introduced a bill
[[link removed]]
to do exactly that. It would allow for the transfer of normal supplies
and defensive gear, but stop the transfer of offensive equipment like
drones and armored vehicles. It would also create a new system of
transparency for the 1033 Program and other similar initiatives,
requiring transfers to be publicly listed.

“For years, I have fought to stop the federal militarization of
local police departments,” Paul said
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in June. “I support our officers, but I do not believe it is
beneficial for neighborhoods across the United States to have the same
kind of military-grade weapons that are commonly used in
Afghanistan.”

With momentum growing after the May death of George Floyd and other
instances of alleged police brutality, common-sense criminal justice
reform may finally have a chance in the coming years. Ending police
militarization programs that don’t increase public safety would be a
great place to start.

_Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo [[link removed]]) is a
libertarian-conservative journalist and Opinion Editor at the
Foundation for Economic Education._

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