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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Pentagon gave local cops nearly 12,000 bayonets over the past 8 years
Through the 1033 program, the federal government has geared America's local police departments with military-grade equipment ranging from airplanes to bayonets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
NPR combed through the transaction data for the program to find out where the equipment went and what kind of gear was involved. Since 2006, the Pentagon distributed more than 79,000 assault rifles, 205 grenade launchers, nearly 12,000 bayonets, nearly 4,000 combat knives, 50 airplanes, 479 bomb detonator robots, and much more to America's local cops.
t's not immediately clear why some of these places would need so much military-grade equipment. With the notable exception of Starr County, Texas, the counties and states on the list have modest crime rates, and they aren't hotbeds for drug or terrorist activity the two main targets of the federal government's police militarization schemes.*
The proliferation of such weapons could soon come to an end. Following outcry against police militarization during the August protests in Ferguson, Missouri, the Obama administration ordered a review that will consider whether local police should have the equipment, whether they need to receive more training if they obtain the gear, and how the federal government can better oversee the equipment's use. The Pentagon said it could even take back some of the equipment if it's deemed necessary.
http://www.vox.com/2014/9/3/6101895/charts-police-militarization-1033-program-obama-administration
Owl
(3,642 posts)Stop this insanity!
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Yes, for crowd control. The National Guard had fixed bayonets on the streets of Madison in 1969.
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)cstanleytech
(26,293 posts)as some bayonets are also used as digging tools which can come in handy if your having to build a firebreak for a wildfire so it might make sense to send those ones to some police departments in regions that are prone to wildfires.
4b5f940728b232b034e4
(120 posts)why in the hell would you use a bayonet?
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Or maybe to open C-rations, either of which is harder to do with a shovel.
I imagine the bayonets are the ones designed for M-16 rifles.
cstanleytech
(26,293 posts)they have to spend on other areas that they may be lacking in such as better protective gear.
Thats why I was wondering what type of bayonets they were and what area of the country were they sent to.
sarisataka
(18,663 posts)M-7 bayonets, those are pretty good at spreading peanut butter. Any more strenuous work and they have a habit of breaking.
As I recall, the M-9 replacements were stronger and could rust during an eyeblink
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)Why?
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)proReality
(1,628 posts)littlemissmartypants
(22,692 posts)justabob
(3,069 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,732 posts)DRoseDARs
(6,810 posts)DireStrike
(6,452 posts)But the ones we do have are for use on our own citizens.
sakabatou
(42,152 posts)hughee99
(16,113 posts)someone to death instead.
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)bvf
(6,604 posts)This makes even less sense than bayonets.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Or maybe beanbag rounds.