General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsComforting--"U.S. Police Departments Say They Are 'Losing' Tons of Military Weapons"
The 1033 program, which is now under White House review in the wake of the police response to riots in Ferguson, Missouri, has provided surplus military gear to police departments across the country in the aftermath of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The departments themselves, however, havent been keeping very good track of it.
Fusion reports 184 state and local departments have been suspended from the program for misplacing M14, M15 and M16 assault rifles, .45-caliber pistols, shotguns and two Humvees. Its unclear whether the weapons, which were provided to assist police in the wars on terrorism and drugs, have been unintentionally lost or sold on the black market.
[The program] is obviously very sloppy, and its another reason that Congress needs to revisit this promptly, CATO Institute project on criminal justice director Tim Lynch told Fusion. We dont know where these weapons are going, whether they are really lost, or whether there is corruption involved.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/25574-us-police-departments-say-they-are-losing-tons-of-military-weapons
But those HumVees are no doubt painted camo. They're probably just sitting in the back parking lot & nobody can see them.
merrily
(45,251 posts)edhopper
(33,615 posts)who are also white militia. I'd look there.
Cirque du So-What
(25,973 posts)White supremacists, neo-nazis, various & sundry RW groups, you name it.
TheKentuckian
(25,029 posts)minority and women members of the Blue Gang.
underpants
(182,877 posts)First thing I thought of too- someone is selling these OR the officers are taking them (see militia post below). There is no way an armory just loses weapons.
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)our tax dollars at work...
merrily
(45,251 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)especially when local governments were trying to survive the economic downturn...
logosoco
(3,208 posts)which would really be handy for a crazy person to get a hold of, but they are responsible enough to make decisions on whether someone lives or dies, or gets the crap beat out of them.
I see a problem here, but I guess they don't.
malthaussen
(17,216 posts)Somehow, I have a feeling that a lot of "cool" stuff winds up in Officer Friendly's garage.
-- Mal
eppur_se_muova
(36,289 posts)Seriously, there's an obvious black market there. Expect the first one to "disappear" anytime now.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)VanGoghRocks
(621 posts)quote marks around the word 'losing'. But aside from that, thanks for posting!
underpants
(182,877 posts)During basic someone showed to "stand to" without his M16. FT. KNOX SHUT DOWN. no one in or out until it is found. The Army wives, we heard later, were pissed they couldn't get to commissary.
All hands on deck. My unit was part of the search party. A GI in another platoon was walking down a dirt road and a Sgt stopped, "Why aren't walking through that mud puddle?!" Sure enough there was an M16 in the mud puddle. Problem was - it wasn't the one they were looking for. At some point one went missing and the armor didn't report it. They eventually found the other one too.
Our Drill Sgt.s couldn't help but laugh "Well, someone's retirement plans are going to change"
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)The SWAT tanks and the MRAPs, they' re tearing up the roads, which simply were not built to have those monsters driving around on them.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)GeorgeGist
(25,323 posts)Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Every incident should be considered misconduct and the people responsible for inventory control should be fired/ investigated for theft.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Any mention of arming anyone is propaganda without mentioning America is by far the No. 1 supplier of military equipment to the blood thirsty world.
USA! USA!
riqster
(13,986 posts)The apocalypse is nigh.
packman
(16,296 posts)Now you're telling me the local cops don't have the mine clearing truck they were promised or the assault rifles to beat them back with? Chaos, fire from heaven, cats mating with dogs, women wearing pants, aliens probing ---- what will we do? WHAT will we do?
"Fusion reports 184 state and local departments have been suspended from the program for misplacing M14, M15 and M16 assault rifles, .45-caliber pistols, shotguns and two Humvees. "
Here's a clue - check the local Flea Markets for the missing shit.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)do you MISPLACE a goddam HUMVEE??
Wanna bet that reichwing fringe groups and white-supremacists are getting their mitts on these?
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)maybe they have really good camo jobs and nobody can find them in the parking lot.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Lots of cops are pretty dim bulbs.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)arms with its friendly militaries, soon enough it's saturated
Historic NY
(37,453 posts)my local pd dept got stuff in the past...couple pickup trucks. They couldn't get rid of them for 3-4 yrs. They were pretty much junk except for one truck used mostly in the winter. I see they got a couple Hummer's which the local high school shop repainted a solid color , lets see how long the become a rust spot. Usually they just give it to one of the other town depts to used until its useless.