When the police resemble an army, the people will resemble a guerrilla force.

In some great work that a fan of this site assisted with, we apparently found one of the core reasons the police militarization is happening and why it is so dangerous. Basically the federal government is forcing local police departments to use the equipment it gives them. The DoD is giving military equipment to police departments and then telling them if they do not “use it” they will “lose it.”   This is one reason that police are throwing flash bang grenades around so freely that they are ending up in the cribs of American babies.

The program where the DOD transfers excess military equipment to local police departments is called the 1033 program. It was initially put in place for the War on American Drug Users. This 1033 program was part of the 1990 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and specifically said the Pentagon could transfer military equipment to local law enforcement if it was “suitable for use in counter-drug activities.” After 9/11 when the government convinced the American people that there were little brown terrorist hiding in grandma’s skirt this was expanded to equipment that was appropriate for the War on Terrorists.

It was originally created in 1990, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorized the Pentagon to transfer military equipment to local law enforcement if it was “suitable for use in counter-drug activities.” In the wake of the September 11th attacks, the program’s focus has expanded to include counter-terrorism activities as well.

While the 1033 program’s intent may have been to equip specialized units for extreme, dangerous situations, fighting al-Qaeda sleeper cells or powerful drug cartels, the effect has been to incorporate SWAT-style raids into ordinary police operations. That includes, but is certainly not limited to, the serving of search warrants. This may partly be because the program requires that all equipment issued through the 1033 program be used within one year of the date it is granted. That means that if police departments want to keep their new gear, they can’t wait for a rare emergency like an active shooter or hostage situation in order to use it. More at Vox.com

Now read that again. The 1033 program transfer this military equipment to law enforcement but those law enforcement must use the equipment within a year or lose it. That means the four MRAPS the various police forces in Idaho have acquired must be used in the next 12 months.  Let me put this in perspective for you using an analogy.

I want to create The Bard’s new militia Act of 2015. This act will distribute excess military AR-15 (M-4) rifles to every American male of military age at 50% of the cost for “self-defense” purposes. The caveat is that each person must use that AR-15 in the first year or we will take it back.  This is what we have allowed congress, defense contractors and your local police to do.

Many people see conspiracy in the militarization of the police. There may be, but I do not attribute to conspiracy what can be explained by simple greed and stupidity.   There was something my professors taught, about trying the simplest explanation first.  It is my opinion that the 1033 program is actually a giveaway to American’s Military Industrial Complex.   See, the major defense contractors have created a massive amount of arms.   In the defense contracting business, about 20% of your revenue is made from selling the equipment, closer to 80% of your revenue is made from the operation and maintenance (O&M) of that equipment. MRAPs break, and need new engines and such.  That business is very lucrative.  The real business is in the recurring work of maintaining military equipment, not in the onetime selling of that equipment. After our overseas wars spin down, normally all that equipment that was created is parked in the desert. You can find places in America that is simply full of rotting old military equipment the Air Force calls the bone yard and the Navy calls the ghost fleet. Half the time we just destroy the equipment “in place.” We have dug giant holes in the desert and pushed brand new equipment into it because it was not worth shipping the equipment home. When that happens the defense contractors see lost revenue. We have to keep the wars going to keep our bottom line happy.  Thus they came up with an idea.

They could get congress to pass a law (this is the stupid part) to “give” this equipment to your local law enforcement.  The defense contractors lose no money since the military has already paid for it.  Sure Idaho has four Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAPS) for nearly no cost, but … who pays for the operations and maintenance of those MRAPS after they are acquired? The local tax payers! You do. This is one of the strongest arguments against letting your local police department play tacticool Mall Ninja with military equipment on official time. Local taxes need to pay for the operations and maintenance of that equipment. And where does that money (this is the greed part) from your local tax base flow? Back to the defense contractors. The defense contractors want that equipment rolling, being used and requiring regular proper maintenance (O&M dollars). Thus their lobbyist make sure a part of the law that says you have to keep the equipment “properly maintained” i.e. you have to use it.

Everyone wins!  Congress looks like they are hard on crime by convincing the American public that there are dark little dangerous criminals everywhere and even more scary there are  little brown terrorists in your Mom’s pants, we need to check. The Pentagon gets to unload a bunch of equipment that it no longer wants, the local police departments who are military wannabes get to dress tacticool and act like Mall Ninjas and the Defense Contractors see improvement in their bottom line even with the wars spinning down. Everyone wins, except for the U.S. citizen and the Constitution.  These are real people they are killing, and real families they are destroying.  Remember, blow back people, it does not only apply to overseas actions.

See your future, Know your fate.