Army surplus may fit city cops. City crime fighters are being urged to raid the Pentagon for surplus

[Ian David]

Army surplus may fit city cops

By Mike Underwood, Enterprise staff writer

BROCKTON — City crime fighters are being urged to raid the Pentagon for surplus military supplies.

Ward 7 Councilor Chris MacMillan says the city should sign up for a U.S. Department of Defense program that allows police departments to get their hands on free guns, ammunition, vehicles and bullet-proof vests no longer needed by the military.

<snip>

“Because of a lack of funding there is always a shortage of vehicles and equipment so if the police can get them for nothing, it would be a huge advantage,” he said. “Bullet-proof vests or anything they can take away would be a good thing not just for my ward, but for the city.”

Brockton Police Chief William Conlon said he is looking into the program but added that he would rather have new vehicles, not used vehicles which could prove costly in the long run.

<snip>

The so-called 1033 program was introduced in 1997 under the National Defense Authorization Act.

It provides an avenue for federal and state law enforcement agencies to apply for free equipment for use in fighting crime and drugs.

More:
http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2007/03/11/news/news/news02.txt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. The chief would rather have new vehicles than used?

Hey, who wouldn't prefer a new vehicle? (well, except for the TR-3A I've been desiring).

But, if the guns, ammo, vests can help, and they're free, go for it.

I'm not sure what's "newsy" about this article, it just seems there's a gov't program that makes surplus stuff available. Get what you can or get what you want, leave the rest. Someone will snatch up the used vehicles and be grateful for them.

[Ian David]

4. It's a great program. And Clinton started it. n/t

[lonestarnot]

2. Damn.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. How can there possibly be army surplus when...

The US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq do not have enough equipment? If equipment exists, why the bloody hell is it being sold as surplus and not being given to the troops?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. The Army is always replacing with the latest/greatest

As the M4's come in, the M16A2's are sent to National Guard, freeing up the old M16A1's for surplus, and the police can get them.

As better vests are available, the "lesser" vests are surplus. They still provide good protection against handgun bullets, so should protect police against most bad guys. They are better than nothing, which is what some police departments can afford.

And so on.

[JunkYardDogg]

6. This has been available for many many years to any other Gov't Agencies

I'm in the scrap and surplus biz and have been going to the Military bases' scrap & surplus
facilities for years
Any government agency can go thru the DoD surplus storage yards and if they see something they want,
they can claim it for free as long as they make use of the material themselves and they must keep it for a minimum of 6 months to prevent resale for profit, thus depriving the DoD of the sale monies
What is claimed is supposed to be items which have a definite use
It is also available for Native American Indians and some others
Over the years, there have been glaring abuses of this program
At certain bases, in one scam, American Indians go into bases and claim various scrap metal lots ( lot being a segregated grouping of a specific category &/or classification of material, ex. brass or copper or aluminum, etc) as useable
material which they can make use of. They would get this material for free, load on a truck, drive it out the gate, and sell it immediately to the nearest scrap yard
Another egregious example, one state, I think it is Wyoming, has its own Surplus Sales Dept for reselling surplus goods, material, and equipment- They have some tractor/trailer trucks which go all over the U.S. picking up equipment which they claim for free from DoD military bases- they claim very valuable and expensive heavy equipment, like bulldozers, etc,
haul it back to their state, and resell it (having never used it) a direct violation of the program rules
In general, it is a good way for public governmental agencies to get equipment for free- ( it is almost always used equipment) The Sheriff's Dept in my county has gotten it helicopters this way