Do local cops need M-16s? Police get military surplus
Second of two parts.
Shoulder to shoulder, police officers line a suburban street. Black helmets cover their faces and bulletproof vests shield their torsos. Over one shoulder hangs an M-16 military rifle, in one hand a flashlight or baton.
They arrive not in police cars, but in a towering armored vehicle made to withstand bomb blasts in war zones. But that's what this neighborhood looks like now.
That scene is what millions across America watched unfold in Ferguson, Missouri, last year.
There is no Ferguson-like unrest in the streets of suburban Chicago today. But if there were, the military equipment is here and ready to be used.
The federal 1033 program that allows local police departments free access to surplus military equipment — 450 Illinois departments have gotten more than $66 million worth of supplies — is just one way police across the nation are building their arsenals. It has led to a debate about the growing militarization of local law enforcement — and highlighted the delicate balance between keeping police officers safe versus becoming too remote from the community they are charged with protecting.
“Militarization is a mindset,” said Jim Bueermann, president of the Police Foundation, a national organization that researches and advocates best practices in American policing. “It's not so much about the equipment, but how that equipment is used that makes it militarized or not.”
The ramp-up started after Sept. 11, 2001, when communities were eager to prepare for a weapons of mass destruction confrontation or terrorist attack, said Fred Hayes, president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.
That extra preparation has had some benefits.
“Law enforcement across America is better prepared to respond to a terrorist attack,” Hayes said, pointing to the swift response authorities made to the Boston Marathon bombing. “But with that comes responsibility for law enforcement agencies to understand the proper deployment of the equipment.”
Hayes is now the police chief in Southwest suburban Elwood, after leading the Joliet Police Department for many years, including as a SWAT team commander.
Joliet was one of the first towns to get an armored vehicle in the 1980s. Hayes said it came in handy helping to evacuate neighborhoods and keep officers safe in sniper and hostage situations.
“We were under strict guidelines not to use that vehicle for any other purpose than for the rescue of citizens or the protection of police officers,” he said.
In the decades since, however, the proliferation of armored vehicles and military equipment has also meant its use is much less regulated, he said.
“I've seen departments who have obtained these vehicles and deployed them in situations that really aren't justified,” Hayes said, “and when that's done it definitely sends the wrong message to the community.”
Since Hayes left Joliet the city has gotten a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle from the military surplus program, a decision he criticizes.
“I really can't think of any situation where they would use that,” he said. “The MRAP doesn't meet the needs of most law enforcement agencies today. It's a very large vehicle. It's very hard to maneuver. It was designed to shield our soldiers from driving over an explosive device.
“Just because you have the ability to obtain that equipment doesn't mean you should,” he added.
Sixteen Illinois agencies have the vehicles from the federal program, including small towns like Winthrop Harbor, Spring Grove and Round Lake Park, according to documents obtained by the Daily Herald through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Benefits of program
Police chiefs around the suburbs maintain that, overall, the federal program has been positive for local police departments.
“To say, 'It can't happen here,' just isn't true anymore,” said Winthrop Harbor Police Chief Joel Brumlik. “Years ago we never trained for school shootings, but things change. The equipment may never have to be used, but I'd rather have it available then say, 'I wish we could have had that to save lives.'”
Many towns use the federal program to obtain equipment and vehicles other than weapons — items such as first-aid kits, office supplies and storage racks. The DuPage County Sheriff's Office has turned former military buses and ambulances into mobile crime scene response vehicles and uses former military trucks to rescue residents in floods and snowstorms.
“Obviously everything can be used wrong,” Brumlik said. “Unfortunately, in this business you don't have a lot of time to make a decision, but we have to provide the training so that our officers can make the right decision at the time.”
Hayes, while critical of the heavy weaponry made available, has no qualms about the free military rifles, which hundreds of Illinois towns request and receive.
“That is the natural progression of law enforcement matching the firearm capability they experience on the street,” Hayes said.
He and other chiefs referred to the 1997 shootout between police and two heavily armed robbers at a Bank of America branch in Los Angeles. Nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition were fired and the robbers had better armor than the police.
“We were vastly outgunned and under armed,” Hayes said. “When the citizens can obtain those types of weapons, they will eventually wind up in the hands of criminals.”
Illinois ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka, however, believes the “criminals have it so we should, too” argument is misleading.
“There has never been a time in America when it has been safer to be a police officer than today,” Yohnka said. “It is a tragedy anytime an officer is hurt or killed. But this alleged 'Wild West' that gets presented as the reason for these things — it doesn't exist. Especially not in the suburbs.
“There seems to be this kind of arms race. If one department gets something then there's this drive to get it, too, not because anyone can articulate the reason but because someone else has it so they have to also,” he said.
Who gives the OK?
Aside from questioning whether police departments should have military equipment, some question the transparency — or lack thereof — in the process to obtain it.
When a community gets a federal grant to help with housing or flooding issues, the village board or city council publicly votes to accept that grant money and pledges to use it for the stated purpose.
For military surplus equipment, there is no such process.
Police departments apply directly to the U.S. Department of Defense and can ask for any equipment they want as long as they list a reason. Most requests are approved and departments receive the equipment they asked for without anyone being notified, including the community's elected officials or the public.
“There's very rarely any public discussion about it,” Yohnka said. “There's something about that process that I think is wrong and to a large extent, undemocratic.”
Yohnka said a department should have to rationalize why they need certain equipment in front of a town board with a community discussion about why it's needed and when it would be used.
Bueermann said state legislatures could pass laws requiring municipalities to submit minutes from a public meeting approving the decision before the state coordinator releases a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, Humvee or weapons.
“If a chief cannot convince his community of the justification and rationale for one of these things, they should not have one,” he said.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and President Barack Obama have asked for a review of the program that could lead to changes.
“You shouldn't be able to get any kind of equipment you want. Things like bayonets or grenade launchers are problematic and should be taken off the list — that's the simplest thing,” Bueermann said.
Whether a police department is “militarized” is about the mindset more than just the equipment, critics say, but having the equipment is a factor.
“Once you have a hammer, there's a tendency to see every problem as a nail,” Yohnka said. “Once you have a tool, there's a tendency to use it and the notion of 'what is really an emergency situation that justifies use' shifts.”
Each police department has to handle that mindset differently and it starts with leadership from the top brass.
“It's about how do police departments view themselves. Are they warriors or are they guardians? If they view themselves as warriors then you have to ask the question, who are they at war with?” Bueermann said.
Just having the equipment can get in the way of the relationship between police and the community, Yohnka said.
“When you send the message that the community is so dangerous that the police need military equipment, that doesn't make people feel good about cooperating with police,” he said. “It's intimidating.”
Learning experience
Fred Hayes, who now leads a 10-officer department in Elwood, has learned some lessons about police response firsthand.
In October 2012, more than 600 people protested outside a Walmart distribution center in Elwood, demanding better working conditions. Worried that his officers were far outnumbered in case the protest got out of hand, Hayes called in a SWAT team, which responded in full riot gear.
Bad press from the event went viral and was picked up by BuzzFeed, which cited it as another example of police out of control.
Hayes acknowledged the SWAT team was probably intimidating to the protesters, who were by and large peaceful (17 were charged with obstructing traffic). After that, Hayes said he had discussions with the team and other area police officials advocating a middle-ground response for nonviolent protests that falls between too few peacekeepers and a force in riot gear — a “softer approach” as he called it.
“Showing up in armored gear can change a peaceful protest into something very different,” Hayes said. “It can incite a crowd. It can turn a crowd violent,” he said. “That's what we saw in Ferguson.”
With his own experiences and Ferguson to learn from, Hayes said he has been leading discussions about community policing and building trusting relationships with the 900 different law enforcement agencies of his organization.
“Most communities want a policing philosophy that is about community outreach, engagement and partnerships. You can't do that when you're dressed in battle gear and you're hunkered down in a foxhole,” Hayes said. “To those departments, I challenge them to do the exact opposite. Open the doors and get out there and engage your community. Across America, right now, this is the opportunity to do that.”
What did your police department get?
Check out our online database to see who got an armored vehicle and who got a robot. <a href="http://reportcards.dailyherald.com/gfx/2015/militaryequip/">militaryequip</a>