Audit could let Ohio back into military- surplus program

It will be at least a month before Ohio learns of its fate in a national militarysurplus program for law enforcement agencies.

Inspectors with the federal Defense Logistics Agency are conducting an audit this week after the state was suspended from participating in the program last year, said Dustyn Fox of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, who spoke on behalf of the state coordinator’s office.

The Defense Logistics Agency, which has managed the surplus program since 1995, doles out to local police departments military items ranging from M16 assault rifles and mineresistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles to computers and office equipment that the military no longer uses. The program was created by Congress in the early 1990s to help law enforcement fight the war on drugs. Since then, the program’s scope has expanded, as has criticism of military-style law enforcement operations.

Last fall, restrictions on some tactical items were lifted by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The restrictions had been put in place in 2015 through an executive order by President Barack Obama after clashes erupted between police using some surplus military equipment and protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, over the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-yearold black man, by a white police officer in 2014.

Obama’s order prohibited law enforcement agencies from having track-propelled vehicles, grenade launchers, armed aircraft, .50-caliber guns, bayonets and camouflage clothing. Departments across the country were required to return the items.

Ohio has the most law enforcement agencies participating in the program, an agency spokeswoman confirmed. However, despite the national lifting of restrictions, the state has not been able to request new military equipment because it was suspended last year due to an unauthorized transfer of an M16 rifle between law-enforcement agencies in 2016 in violation of inventory-control protocol, Fox said.

This week’s audit involves choosing 10 local law enforcement agencies and all State Highway Patrol locations where militarysurplus items are tracked and stored. The audit requires that all small firearms be verified with matching serial numbers, Fox said.

All weaponry accepted by law enforcement agencies is considered on loan from the federal government and must be tracked. All participating agencies in Ohio were required to undergo training to stay in the program, Fox said.

The number of Ohio law-enforcement agencies participating has dropped by 12 percent to 486.

“We had a few new agencies that want to come aboard, but many of them chose not to or did not want to for various reasons,” Fox said.

Columbus police did not respond Wednesday when asked for comment about the division’s military-surplus equipment, which at last check was getting scaled back.

Fox said conducting statelevel audits of such a high number of agencies to ensure that national standards are followed is “a continual effort.” National standards require that states audit 15 percent of participating agencies per year, he said. In Ohio, officials have been conducting checks on 20 percent of agencies per year.

“The focus for us is on agencies that have weapons,” he said.