The Pentagon is accused of participating in recent years with the militarization of the American police, by providing it with free surplus armored vehicles and weapons, through a controversial program that the Democratic opposition wants to limit.

Pictures of police officers with military attire and assault rifles directed at protesters against police violence revived the controversy over this program, which was greatly reduced by former President Barack Obama in 2015, but President Donald Trump reactivated it in 2017.

Armored vehicles were deployed in Minneapolis in large numbers during the riots that erupted in late May, after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a white policeman.

Those resources are weapons of war, and the militarization of the security forces should be "stopped," according to the police reform bill presented this week by nearly 200 lawmakers in Congress, the majority of whom are Democrats.

Since 1997, the US military has distributed more than 8,000 members of the police - federal, local, and indigenous - to used or new equipment, from handguns to helicopters, to armored vehicles intended to resist explosives, with a total value of $ 6.8 billion, according to what was mentioned in project of law.

In fiscal 2017 alone, 500 million pieces of equipment were transferred to the country's police forces through the program called "1033", referring to the 1997 defense budget line under which the program was approved.

Exaggerated arm

The latest data from the Pentagon's logistics department shows the extent to which some police departments have benefited from the Pentagon's generosity, sometimes with proportions that may be surplus in relation to the size of the population of the region to which they belong.

In Montana, Flathead County Police of 90,000 people, especially famous for its proximity to the Glacier National Reserve, received an armored mine-resistant vehicle in 2013, valued at $ 70,000, a year after providing it with a military transport mechanism.

In Oklahoma State, during a few years, the small Ada city police, with a population of no more than 16,000, was provided with 34 M-16 guns, before it was given an APM in July 2019. This city's police department includes 8 operatives Full-time, two-part-time.

In a country whose residents are highly armed, and in which many schools have been involved in shootings in recent years, even educational institutions are benefiting from the gifts of the Pentagon.

In Florida, the 47 institutions and colleges and universities in the Bay Department of Panama City were given at least 27 machine guns and two armored anti-mine vehicles during 2012 and 2013.

law Project

The Democratic House of Representatives bill stipulates severely limiting the granting of explosives, bombs, grenade launchers and armored vehicles more prepared by the police to the battlefield rather than for security.

Senators are also preparing a bill, overseen by Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, who has for years denounced the excessive arming of US police.

"It is clear that many police departments are equipped with equipment as if they are preparing for war, and this is not beneficial for the sake of preserving security," Shatz told the New York Times, adding, "Having the Defense Department does not have a surplus of weapons will necessarily be used well."

In 2014, Shatz and Republican Senator Rand Paul tried to introduce a similar law, after the first information on "Program 1033" was published, following riots in Ferguson demonstrating against racism.

The death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was shot dead by a white policeman, caused violent riots that lasted 10 days between the black population and the small Ferguson city security forces in Missouri, in which police used machine guns and armored vehicles obtained from the Pentagon.