Trump rescinds Obama limits on transfer of military gear to police

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order revoking limits imposed by predecessor Barack Obama on the transfer of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, the White House said.

Obama had curtailed the equipment transfer programme after law enforcement officers using military-style armored vehicles and guns confronted protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 following the fatal police shooting of a black teenager.

Trump’s executive order said, “All executive departments and agencies are directed, as of the date of this order and consistent with Federal law, to cease implementing those recommendations and, if necessary, to take prompt action to rescind any rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies implementing them.”

The Republican president has reversed or cut back many of his Democratic predecessor’s policies since taking office in January.

The use of military equipment in Ferguson prompted a wider outcry over the use of warfighting equipment by local law enforcement agencies in the United States.

After a review, Obama barred the military from transferring certain types of equipment to police or sheriff’s departments, including tracked armoured vehicles, armed aircraft or vehicles of any kind, .50calibre firearms and ammunition, grenade launchers, bayonets and camouflage uniforms.

Obama also required law enforcement agencies to justify the need for items like helicopters and other aircraft, wheeled armoured vehicles, unmanned drones, riot helmets and ‘flash-bang’ grenades. — Reuters