Hanceville Police Chief Bob Long 

As police militarization enters the national conversation in the wake of Ferguson, Missouri’s violent protests, Department of Defense records reveal Cullman County law enforcement agencies have received nearly $6 million in free surplus military equipment and vehicles since 2006.

All together, the county’s three law enforcement agencies — the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and Cullman and Hanceville police departments — have received 9,573 items with a combined value of $5,799,861.34. A breakdown of which agency got what was not available.

Big ticket items include Cullman police’s mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle ($412,000) and Hanceville police’s full-tracked personnel carrier ($244,844) and two fire engines ($929,188 combined value). The county’s police officers and deputies have also received 25 assault rifles, 84 body armor pieces and 44 night vision devices.

Like many law enforcement agencies across the country, Cullman’s departments acquired the property from the 1033 program through the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO).

According to LESO, the program has transferred $4.3 billion worth of property to date, and currently it supplies more than 17,000 federal and state law enforcement agencies from all U.S. states and territories. Since its inception in the 1990s, the amount of military equipment used by local and state police agencies has skyrocketed — from $1 million in equipment in 1990 to $324 million in 1995 and to nearly $450 million in 2013, according to a June report, “War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing,” released by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The federal government suspended Alabama’s program in May until state officials can complete a mandated audit of the equipment transfers, said Larry Childers, Communications Director for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). The agency took over administering the program from the Alabama Department of Public Safety this spring, he said.

“We’re now trying to establish some new record-keeping policies and procedures for the program,” Childers said.

Local law enforcement stands by their access to miltary-grade equipment, arguing it’s safer for officers —and citizens — to be prepared for worst case scenarios.

“Police departments have militarized in response to events,” said Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper. “When I started in 1978, I had a revolver with 18 bullets. Now, our officers carry a 40-caliber S&W Glock and soft body armor.”

Culpepper cited a string of incidents where the “bad guys” outgunned police, including the FBI Miami shoot-out in 1986, the North Hollywood Shoot-out in 1997, and more recently in Alabama, the murder of police officers in Athens (2004), Fayette County (2003) and Birmingham (2004).

Then Columbine happened. At that time, it was standard procedure for police to set up a parameter and wait for SWAT to go in to take down the shooter, Culpepper said.

“But we learned from that tragedy that you can’t wait because the shooter is going to continue to kill people,” he said. “Now every one of our officers is trained to engage the shooter and do whatever they can to stop them.”

For his department, Culpepper said he focused on obtaining vehicles to use in catastrophic situations, such as the April 27, 2011 tornado. Last year, Cullman police got its (MRAP) armored vehicle which can transport 16 people and weighs 44,000 pounds. The department plans to use the MRAP as a tornado shelter by bolting it down to a concrete foundation, Culpepper said.

Other vehicles Cullman police have acquired through the 1033 program are a semi-truck which officers used to clear tractor-trailers from Interstate 65 during last winter’s snowstorm and 4-wheel drive humvees to pull vehicles up icy Anderson Hill, he said. Cullman police also obtained a fuel truck to have a mobile fuel resource to fill up patrol cars. Culpepper said the department has not sought weapons through the program.

“You plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Culpepper said. “You hope you never have to use this equipment. We’re asking these officers to go into these dangerous situations. Don’t we owe it to them to arm them and keep them as safe as we can?” Culpepper said.

Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail, who previously worked as a police officer, defended his police department’s use of military equipment and vehicles.

“I’m going to do everything I can to protect my police officers and I’m also going to do everything I can to protect our citizens,” he said. “Do you use this stuff everyday? Absolutely not, but if my child was on the ninth floor of a building at Wallace State that was on fire, I’d like to see that ladder truck we got through 1033 out there. I’d like to see five of them. If someone is deranged with a gun shooting people, and someone is wounded laying out in the yard, I’d like to have an armored personnel carrier to drive up and get that person to safety.”

Hanceville police also have 10 M-16s assault rifles and an armored humvee it acquired through the 1033 program. Nail said he thinks the program benefits taxpayers because local departments get to use equipment and vehicles which would otherwise go to government auction to be sold pennies on the dollar.

“It’s like what the Boys Scouts say, ‘Be Prepared,’” Nail said. “You have people saying we’re militarizing our police. Well, I think we are a para-military organization.”

Sheriff Mike Rainey did not return a call Friday seeking comment for the story.

While law enforcement touts the benefits of the 1033 program, others across the country are criticizing it for giving authorities the tools to wage war on citizens.

Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia’s 4th Congressional District plans to introduce a bill called the “Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act” to end the 1033 program.

“Our main streets should be a place for business, families, and relaxation, not tanks and M-16s,” Johnson wrote in a letter to his fellow representatives. “Unfortunately, due to a Department of Defense (DOD) Program that transfers surplus DOD equipment to state and local law enforcement, our local police are quickly beginning to resemble paramilitary forces.”

Johnson said the legislation would “end the free transfers of certain aggressive military equipment to local law enforcement and ensure that all equipment can be accounted for.”

According the ACLU report, the 1033 statute authorizes the Department of Defense to transfer property that is “excess to the needs of the Department,” which can include new equipment. Thirty-six percent of property transferred through the program is brand new. The ACLU report concluded that the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) can simply purchase property from an equipment or weapons manufacturer and transfer it to a local law enforcement agency free of charge.

The program also allows agencies to transfer equipment obtained from the DLA between each other. The ACLU uncovered numerous examples of state and local law enforcement agencies transferring 1033 equipment. According to the report, there did not appear to be any limitations or oversight of this practice.

The only significant responsibilities placed on participating law enforcement agencies are that they don’t sell equipment obtained through the program and they maintain accurate inventories of transferred equipment.

The state coordinator is required to approve or disapprove applications for participation, but there is apparently only two criteria that must be satisfied in order for a request to be approved: the agency intends to use the equipment for a “law enforcement purpose” (i.e. counterdrug and counterterrorism efforts are emphasized by law) and the transfer would result in a “fair and equitable distribution” of property based on current inventory. No more than one of any item per officer will be allocated under the program.

States or agencies can be suspended for failure to conduct a required inventory, but there are no consequences for overly aggressive use of equipment.

Below is a breakdown of the most expensive items acquired by law enforcement agencies in Cullman County.

Item: Value:

2 Fire trucks $929,188 total

4 Truck tractors $644,866.76 total

9 Utility trucks $509,539 total

3 Wrecker trucks $463,656 total

Mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle $412,000

Diesel generator set $257,500

Full-tracked personnel carrier $244,844

2 Cargo trucks $160,181.55 total

2 Dump trucks $158,084 total

Wheel-mounted crane $150,000

Boat trailer $127,540

Scoop loader $113,747.02

Wheeled-tractor $110,000

Azimuth surveying intstrument $85,815

Rotary self-propelled sweeper $70,738

Tank truck $70,424

Full-tracked tractor $70,002

Motorized road grader $67,724.00

20,000-pound Forklift truck $48,000

21-foot boat $45,000.00

SOURCE: Department of Defense

You hope you never have to use this equipment. We’re asking these officers to go into these dangerous situations. Don’t we owe it to them to arm them and keep them as safe as we can?