Rep. Johnson: Legislative solution on ‘police militarization cannot wait’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) released the following statement after an investigative news article revealed that police departments nationwide are using the war on drugs as a disproportionate rationale for requesting Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) from the Pentagon under its 1033 Program and the Obama Administration is demanding the city of Ferguson return two Humvees they inappropriately received through 1033. Under the Pentagon's excess property 1033 program, the Department of Defense has transferred more than $5 billion in surplus military equipment – often from warzones overseas – to local police departments and college campuses nationwide:

“It has been more than a year since America watched incredulously as armored military vehicles and other military-grade weaponry were used by police in Ferguson, Missouri, to stop lawful and peaceful demonstrators from protesting the police killing of Michael Brown,” said Johnson.

“Due in part to congressional inaction on a legislative solution to rein in police militarization, President Obama issued an executive order restricting the Pentagon’s 1033 program. But too much military equipment is still being provided to civilian law enforcement agencies across the country to police Americans. As the author of H.R. 1232, the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act, I am dismayed by the lack of progress in Congress on limiting this program. The recent news that local police are citing the war on drugs – with a focus on marijuana – as a rationale for requesting armored vehicles should give us all pause. We owe it to the millions of Americans concerned about the militarization of police to stop arming civilian police with free Defense Department military-grade hardware. The fact that the City of Ferguson Police improperly received two free Humvees from the Pentagon due to shoddy record keeping is an outrageous example of how loose and careless the 1033 acquisition process has become. This sends a clear signal that the program is broken. A legislative solution cannot wait.”

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