Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Pentagon releases new details of weapons program in Southern California
MRAP vehicles sit in the Redistribution Property Accountability Team yard at Kandahar Airfield near Kandahar, Afghanistan. The RPAT facility is responsible for shipping military equipment back to the United States after it has been damaged or is no longer need in Afghanistan.
(
Scott Olson/Getty Images
)
Southern California law enforcement agencies have more than 400,000 pieces of military-grade equipment - including thousands of rifles and dozens of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles designed to withstand bomb blasts in Iraq and Afghanistan, records show.
Related: Militarized police? An FAQ on the Pentagon's surplus program
Data released late last month by the Department of Defense details exactly which local law enforcement agencies have which excess military items distributed by its 1033 program. The data makes clear some of the equipment that resides with Southern California law enforcement agencies includes the same types of guns and vehicles that raised concerns about the police response to protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
The Ferguson protests included confrontations between protestors and police armed with automatic weapons and military vehicles, drawing attention to the 24 year-old 1033 program.
Support for LAist comes from
The inventory of 1033 equipment in California includes everything from dozens of refrigerators to thousands of rifles. The Los Angeles Police Department received 1,678 rifles through the program between 2007 and 2012. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has 1,085 rifles donated between 2007 and 2011. Other 1033 equipment present in Southern California include a helicopter, a cargo airplane, trucks, forklifts and boats at the LAPD, and bomb-defusing robots at the L.A. Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff's departments in Los Angeles and Orange Counties acquired the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, via the 1033 program in 2013 and 2014. So did police departments in El Monte, Claremont, Pomona, Whittier and Placentia. Saddleback College police in Mission Viejo also received an MRAP at its roughly 25,000 student campus.
The Los Angeles School Police Department received its own MRAP via the 1033 program, but returned the vehicle after a flurry of criticism, citing concerns about costs.
The Barstow Police Department is now in possession of the vehicle, said Alex Pal, an attorney with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, which administers the 1033 program in the state.
In Huntington Beach, police lost a rifle acquired through the 1033 program, and are now suspended from receiving further equipment. Rifles have gone missing from seven other California agencies, mostly in Northern California, landing them on the state's suspension list.
In addition to weapons and vehicles, local agencies received scores of office and gym equipment, including items like ponchos, gloves and keyboards.
Related: The Marshall Project has developed a tool to look up the 1033 equipment at local law enforcement agencies.
Support for LAist comes from
As of the data release on Nov. 21, California law enforcement agencies had netted more than 200,000 items through the 1033 program in 2014. That equipment was originally valued at $64 million. Statewide, law enforcement agencies currently posses 1033 equipment originally worth $163 million.
The data does not provide a complete history of equipment dispersed through 1033 program, only the items currently at local law enforcement agencies. The agency also does not track how agencies use the equipment they receive through the program.
The 1033 program, named for its section number in the biannual Department of Defense budget bill, began in 1989 and falls under the Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency.
The agency's website states the program gives preference to counter-drug and counter-terrorism requests. Over the life of the program, more than $5 billion in military equipment has flowed to local law enforcement agencies.
The Obama Administration's reviewed the 1033 program and similar programs that allocate gear and supplies to law enforcement agencies. In a report earlier this month, it found lax and inconsistent oversight.
"The programs reviewed do not necessarily foster or require civil rights/civil liberties training and they generally lack mechanisms to hold LEAs accountable for the misuse or misapplication of equipment. This variation among federal agencies makes tracking the overall effects, use and misuse of federal or federally-funded equipment difficult," read the review's summary of findings.
Support for LAist comes from
In a meeting with President Obama, advocates allied with the Black Lives Matter protests demanded an end to the 1033 program. The program has drawn criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, including Senator Rand Paul and the American Civil Liberties Union. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., planned to introduce legislation to curb the program, but the bill has remained in a House committee since September.
The White House plans to offer specific recommendations and reforms to the 1033 and related programs in the next four months.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
After rising for years, the number of residential installations in the city of Los Angeles began to drop in 2023. The city isn’t subject to recent changes in state incentives, but other factors may be contributing to the decline. -
The L.A. City Council approved the venue change Wednesday, which organizers say will save $12 million in infrastructure costs.
-
Taxes on the sale of some newer apartment buildings would be lowered under a plan by Sacramento lawmakers to partially rein in city Measure ULA.
-
The union representing the restaurant's workers announced Tuesday that The Pantry will welcome back patrons after suddenly shutting down six months ago.
-
If approved, the more than 62-acre project would include 50 housing lots and a marina less than a mile from Jackie and Shadow's famous nest overlooking the lake.
-
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance.
Best of LAist