Former Texas Rep. Ron Paul said the Department of Defense program that transfers military equipment to local police should be disbanded and that local law enforcement officials are not “warriors.”
“It should be gotten rid of,” Mr. Paul said Monday on MSNBC of the Pentagon’s 1033 program. “Police are supposed to be local people and they’re supposed to be peace officers. They’re not supposed to be warriors.”
Mr. Paul said he “strongly opposed” the program in Congress in the 1990s, in part because the military-grade equipment “encourages the police to overreact and it’s very, very dangerous.”
The Missouri Department of Safety said that the St. Louis Police Department has received a dozen 5.56 millimeter rifles, six .45 caliber pistols, several cargo trailers and utility trucks and numerous night vision goggles from the Pentagon between 2010 and 2013, Politico reported. The department also received a helicopter in 2004.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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