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Georgia police acquired $200 million worth of military-grade vehicles and weapons through DoD
Madison Ruppert
As I reported in 2011, the Pentagon gives away military equipment to law enforcement agencies under the 1033 program in addition to military robots provided by the Department of Defense, police use of armored surveillance vehicles provided for nearly nothing by corporations, law enforcement use of tanks and armored personnel carriers and drones. According to Georgia’s Department of Public Safety, the military equipment and weaponry owned by law enforcement agencies in the state is worth some $200 million, some of which is possessed by tiny departments with less than 20 officers. In an attempt to justify this militarization, Bloomingdale Police Chief Roy Pike told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “officers ‘are armed to meet any threat,’ so criminals should just stay away.” “Having the equipment precludes having to use it,” Pike said. “In the 20 years I’ve been here, we haven’t had to use deadly force against anybody.” Yet Pike’s department, with a mere 13 officers, acquired a grenade launcher for shooting tear gas, two M14 semiautomatic rifles and two semiautomatic M16 rifles all through the Pentagon’s 1033 program, according to the Journal-Constitution. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, which had 117 sworn law enforcement officers as of 2010, according to their most recent annual report on their website, similarly obtained four grenade launchers. Highlighting the absurdity and complete lack of necessity behind these acquisitions, the Journal-Constitution reported, “Several local law enforcement officials said if their agencies had to buy the stuff, they’d just do without most of it. But since it’s donated, they find a place for it.” In other words, they really don’t need it, but since the military is giving it away, they take it anyway and simply “find a place for it,” whatever that means. Emphasizing the absurdity of this type of activity, Tim Lynch, the director of the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice said, “When this equipment is given away, police departments start saying, ‘Let’s grab it.’” Once the military equipment is in the hands of law enforcement agencies, “we have militarized units going into the community in situations where they aren’t warranted,” Lynch said. Lynch is also the editor of two books, has published articles in law journals and major newspapers, made appearances on national news shows, a member of the Wisconsin, District of Colombia and Supreme Court bars and is heavily involved with the Cato Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project. “This is one of the most alarming trends in American policing,” Lynch said, referring to the increasingly common militarization of local law enforcement. “We used to call them peace officers and they would treat people … with more respect and civility,” he said to the Journal-Constitution. “We’re getting away from that. We’re getting into these military tactics and mindset that the people they (police) come into contact with are the enemy … and part of this is the militarized units in police departments.” Indeed, it is only logical that the militarized training and military-grade equipment would create a military mindset officers who should be trained to protect and serve. According to Georgia state records, some of the acquisitions include:
Overall, some 600 law enforcement agencies in Georgia have obtained 3,532 military-grade rifles, eight grenade launchers, 26 armored trucks/personnel carriers and 26 “unaccounted for weapons,” according to the Journal-Constitution. According to state records, the U.S. Department of Defense values each of the armored personnel carriers at nearly $245,000 and each of the armored trucks around $65,000. State records did not list a value for the rifles or grenade launchers, although one can assume that they’re not all that cheap. Unsurprisingly, proponents of the program claim they save lives – even though, as shown above, agencies say they could do without it if they had to actually buy it – and there is a waiting list of agencies itching to get their hands on armored vehicles and military weapons. “It gives the … SWAT guys a protection to where they can get closer to the folks shooting at them,” said Don Sherrod. Sherrod is the Director of Excess Property for the Georgia Department of Public Safety and overseer of the program for the Department of Defense. According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, “Excess Property was formally created in 1991 to provide a coordinated means for state and local law enforcement agencies to obtain excess Department of Defense (DOD) equipment.” Excess Property also assists law enforcement agencies in purchasing equipment using Federal government contracts. “When you pull up in something … and the bullets start bouncing off, they (criminals) give up,” Sherrod said. While the Cobb County Police Department said their SWAT team uses their armored vehicles to remove people from a “hot zone” or get officers closer to a “volatile situation,” other agencies have not even used their equipment. Captain Craig Dodson of the Carroll County Sherrif’s Office, for example, said they haven’t used their grenade launchers or any of their 65 M16 rifles. “Our goal is to try to equip every patrolman in the law enforcement division with a rifle,” Dodson told the Journal-Constitution. “The M16 … gives you more capability to penetrate body armor or to make long-distance shots if you are not able to get closer,” Dodson continued. “It’s a safety blanket. We ask people to go out and do a job, and we want to give them the tools to be safe and do the job.” The Journal-Constitution cites several local residents who are quite concerned by this military buildup. “What are we headed to?” Asked Candace Garrett Daly, a Cobb County resident. “Whatever it is seems to be already in motion at a breakneck speed. The police are preparing for an enemy. My question is, ‘Who is the enemy?’” What do you think of the increasing militarization of law enforcement agencies? Let us know in the comments section of this post, on Twitter or on our Facebook page. Delivered by The Daily Sheeple Contributed by Madison Ruppert of End the Lie. Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on UCY.TV from 7 pm — 10 pm Pacific, which you can find HERE. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/endtheliedotcom Leave A Comment... |
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The militarization of local law enforcement is a sad state affairs for our supposed free society. The bottom line though is Cobb county deputies may find themselves in a heap of shit when they have 2 APCs to protect their treasonous asses against a whole lot of finally pushed over the edge patriots. Just sayin
I guess the LEOs are forgetting there are so many out there who can weld up their own armord vehicles.
The fix is beyond the ballot box. Semper Fi. III
Not to worry – once they have to begin MAINTAINING the items and can’t afford to, they become useless junk. What good is an APC if it won’t start?
bill says: “once they have to begin MAINTAINING the items and can’t afford to, they become useless junk.”
—————
Not true unfortunately. Once they have the stuff they raise taxes to pay for the “operating costs” of law enforcement. The costs are sold to the sheeple under “necessary for public safety” & supported wholesale everytime by the sheeple.
More & more bureaucrats make more & more laws. Hire more & more goons to enforce the mountain of laws. Buy & maintain more & more equipment & facilities to house the goons & stuff that enforces the mountain. Arrest more & more people. Cycle them thru the court systems & extract more & more $$ from them. Put more & more of us under direct control by placing more & more of us on probation, parole & supervised release. Use the money to hire more bureaucrats who make more & more laws. Rinse & repeat.
We are circling the drain. I give up trying to save the brain-dead couch potato masses. And I ain’t going to use my 2nd amend rights to come to the aid of my neighbors who want to take them away from me. Poetic justice I say.
“When you pull up in something … and the bullets start bouncing off, they (criminals) give up,” Sherrod said.
Well, one day when yall pull up it aint gonna be a few crims there to greet ya. And they think we are that stupid. Dah, “Cover and Concelement”.
I have personal experience here in Afghan and Iraq that armored vehicles are all to often COFFINS or OVENS! No matter the advertisements or hype ALL ARMORED vehicles can be defeated by pedestrians which is why armor never enters combat without infantry and even something as simple as dousing an assaulting vehicle with gasoline, giving it time to penetrate the ventilators and engine air intakes, can be set on fire with devastating results. Another point of this is that not all law enforcement offices are pro government and any mlitary grade equipment in their inventory may be used in defense of the local citizens against da gubmint.
I live in northeast georgia…had a feeling it would hit this state sooner or later…glad I live in the mountains
You have NO RIGHT to protection via LEO! Supreme Court has already ruled on that! Right now EVERYONE is an ENEMY to LEO, why else would they “Need the added PROTECTION of these items”?
Realize an Ought-Six, and a fifty is great for armor, body and light vehicles, penetration!.
Learn to shoot round watermelons and not center mass with your handguns!
Grenade launchers???? I live across the river from Georgia, but there will be no more trips for me.
And Georgia is a red state. According to you fools, the repubs are supposed to be the good guys and the dems the bad guys. Looks like the red states may truly be red. (Historical reference for you historically illiterate.)
Both parties have put the screws to the US constitution and to the public. NEITHER have upheld their jobs as protectors and voices of the citizenry, in part due to the lack of term limits in the Senate and house, allowing for Career Politicians that find it easier to line their own pockets and give themselves raises regardless of job performance. The only way to correct this is to abandon the 2 party concept and come together with your neighbors, your co-workers, and even a few woken up liberal leaning folk and push for a Constitutionalist for each and every office, and insist on term limits across the board! We gotta stop the career politicians from having their careers… they’re draining the life’s blood of the country!
Thomas Chittum explains the significance of this in his book, Civil War II.
READ THAT ONE and follow it with “the Turner Diaries”
OH! and keeping in mind that Mr. Chittum wrote his book not later than 1995 makes him sort of a modern day Nostradamus.
As far as dems or repub they are all the same . Chairman Barak wants to put marshall law into place to destroy this country any means possible. But he is just a puppet in a string of the electist. get out of the petrodollar and into the real assets and prep on get ready for some ugly times ahead.