‘TOOLS’ OR TROUBLE?
Hampton Roads police acquisition of military equipment soars as critics decry the continued militarization of law enforcement, especially in the wake of ongoing protests
Transfers of military gear to police departments — from $767,000 armored cars designed to survive mines, to night vision equipment, to backpacks soldiers take into combat — ballooned in Virginia and in Hampton Roads last year.
Hampton Roads police department and sheriff ’s office acquisitions tripled, to nearly $854,000 worth of equipment, a Daily Press analysis of U.S. Department of Defense data found. But unlike in years past, last year’s total included no weapons.
Statewide, transfers of military gear to police and sheriff ’s offices more than doubled, to $3.8 million.
In Hampton Roads, besides the Virginia Beach Sheriff ’s Office’s new armored car, the 2019 grants included safety and rescue equipment, eight mushroom-type boat anchors and three power saws for the Hampton Police Division.
The sheriff ’s office acquired the armored car for “disaster response, such as to transport people or supplies during a natural disaster” and “to safely transport personnel if called to respond to a situation, such as an active shooter,” said spokeswoman Kathy Hieatt.
“It is not weaponized and it has not been used yet” — and in fact has not left the sheriff ’s office compound except to get gas, she said.
The Virginia Marine Police got 10 sets of night-vision equipment, each worth $4,698, for the Virginia Marine Police.
Fredericksburg’s police and sheriff ’s departments had last year’s longest shopping list.
But a longtime staple of the military’s grants to law enforcement — rifles, most recently M-16s — haven’t been transferred since 2012. Last year’s gear included lots of vehicles, sanitation and first aid equipment, office furnishings and supplies — and even a sofa valued at $1,200.
Longstanding complaints that American police act more and more like soldiers in urban combat have grown more frequent and more urgent after George Floyd died of suffocation as Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee to his neck for nine minutes.
Advocates have maintained for years that the military’s “1033”
program of giving surplus equipment to law enforcement agencies has militarized police. More recently, President Donald Trump has called for the military to step in and quell protests over Floyd’s death.
Defense officials slashed grants to police in response to nationwide anger after a Ferguson, Missouri, officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18year-old, in 2014.
The “Obama administration walked the program back but the current administration pushed it forward again,” said Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.
“We believe that local governments should pass ordinances banning the procurement or acceptance of surveillance state or war grade weaponry without an affirmative vote of the responsible elected body after a public hearing and community participation,” she said. “People have a right to say how they want to be policed.”
It’s not the equipment but it is how it is used that matters, said York County and Poquoson Sheriff J.D. “Danny” Diggs.
Diggs hasn’t used the 1033 program much — except for acquiring his office’s light tactical vehicle, what’s known as a MRAP — in 2014.
“They call it mine-resistant, but that really means bullet-proof,” he said.
“We use it in bad weather; when roads flood and trees are down … we’re not driving it up and down the road to intimidate people,” he added.
Diggs said he’s glad he has it, not just for bad weather but also just in case his deputies need to deal with a situation where they might come under fire.
That hasn’t happened, “but it’s better to have it than not to have it if you need it,” he said.
Still, the paperwork is a burden, and, except for the MRAP, Diggs hasn’t bothered with the program.
Neither has the Norfolk Police Department. Defense Department records show no grants to it.
Virginia Beach’s police department and sheriff ’s office have received the most military gear since the 1033 program started in 1997 — some $996,760 worth for the police and another $889,579 for the sheriff ’s office.
In addition to the MRAP each agency acquired, the police acquired 20 military rifles and three mobile surveillance towers, worth $87,000 each, while the sheriff got a $67,627 utility truck and 32 weapons sights.
“I support the public’s right to peaceful protest. I also support the community’s right to be safe from violence,” said Sheriff Ken Stolle, in an email statement.
“Military weapons should not be used against American civilians,” he added. “However, the more than $1.5 million in equipment we have received through the Department of Defense 1033 Program — at no cost to Virginia Beach taxpayers — provides invaluable tools to ensure the public safety of the community and my deputy sheriffs …. As long as criminals are killing our law enforcement officers, I will continue to seek out the very best equipment to protect them.”
Portsmouth police and sheriff ’s office picked up 87 M-16s, and 35 Glock 40 caliber pistols.
Newport News Police acquired 85 military rifles, but no other equipment. The department hasn’t received any military items since 2012.