The military-grade pepper-spray that’s been all the rage with law
enforcement agencies is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to an
advanced arsenal of weaponry made available to police departments across
the country.
It has become clear now that local PDs are stockpiling some seriously
dangerous doodads free of cost as part of a little-known program from
the Pentagon. You can thank Uncle Sam, the Department of Defense and
your own American tax dollars for the 1033 Program, an initiative that
is giving hundreds of millions of bucks’ worth of military hardware from
the DoD and putting it in the hands of your favorite neighborhood cop.
In 2011 alone, the Department of Defense forked over roughly $500
million worth of military machinery to law enforcement agencies
coast-to-coast that would have been left otherwise unused. In many
instances, however, the goods are grabbed by sheriffs in smaller
jurisdictions that don’t have much need for the weaponry, other than to
install fear within the community. The Daily reports that, according to
documents made available by the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency,
among those items offered up to officers at no cost at all last year
were grenade launchers, helicopters, military robots, M-16 assault
rifles and armored vehicles.