Law enforcement agencies across the nation have come under fire recently for amassing military-grade weaponry and equipment citizens feel is too excessive. Critics on both sides of the aisle have lamented the increased acquisition of armored vehicles and other imposing resources under a program allowing local agencies to receive decommissioned and surplus military property.
Furthermore, Fox News reported earlier this month that countless weapons are now missing in departments nationwide. While the federal government has suspended the program in certain communities due to the demonstrable lack of accountability, one sheriff who has been particularly critical of the Obama administration asserted that his agency is facing a more permanent punishment.
Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, often referred to as America’s toughest sheriff, said the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is, to his knowledge, the only agency whose participation in the program has been terminated.
Over the past two decades, Arpaio explained, the MCSO has lost track of nine weapons. As a result, his department is now being forced to return every item received through the federal program over that period. Among the equipment his agents must now give back are about 200 weapons, a pair of armored vehicles, and a large collection of night vision goggles. All of the equipment must be returned within four months.
The high-profile sheriff indicated that he is not deterred by the decision.
Arpaio “more than willing” to hand over vintage weapons to feds http://t.co/2YBfAGEsK5
— American Daily Indy (@amerdailyindy) September 17, 2014
“It really doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “Look at the handguns. They probably don’t work anyway. We have plenty of our own.”
As for the night vision goggles, he said his agency is in the process of obtaining more effective versions.
“We were buying those anyway,” he explained. “We have the money.”
While he said there have been multiple efforts to recover the misplaced guns, many were lost before sophisticated tracking technology existed.
News this week from Los Angeles indicated that the city’s school system acquired a large cache of military weapons under the program. While the district will retain 61 rifles and a heavily armed vehicle, it is prepared to return the three grenade launchers obtained through the Pentagon program.
Photo credit: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Informing And Equipping Americans Who Love Freedom
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