Tanks but no tanks; Powell police turn down most offers of military equipment

Posted 10/7/14

“They’re always available,” Eckerdt said Sept. 23. “We get emails periodically.”

The department has accepted a pair of M16 rifles that were deemed surplus, he said. They are backups in case one of the newer M4 carbines kept in patrol …

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Tanks but no tanks; Powell police turn down most offers of military equipment

Posted

The Powell Police Department is offered surplus military equipment on a regular basis.

So far, the answer is usually no, according to Police Chief Roy Eckerdt.

“They’re always available,” Eckerdt said Sept. 23. “We get emails periodically.”

The department has accepted a pair of M16 rifles that were deemed surplus, he said. They are backups in case one of the newer M4 carbines kept in patrol vehicles becomes unusable, Eckerdt said.

At one point, he was offered a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, known as an MRAP. They are armed personnel carriers.

Eckerdt said he turned it down, but only after studying it.

“I actually thought pretty seriously about that,” he said. “It would be useful with a down-officer rescue.”

During a July candidate forum in Clark, Park County Sheriff Scott Steward said he’s also turned down an MRAP. Steward said his friend Erik Prince, the founder of the security company formerly known as Blackwater USA, who has ties to Wapiti, offered one of the armored vehicles to the sheriff’s office free of charge.

“In fact, it was brand new — brand new chassis and motor — and we said, ‘Keep it,’” Steward said.

The sheriffs in Washakie, Big Horn and Hot Springs counties chose to jointly acquire one of the surplus vehicles last year.

Eckerdt said he has followed the debate over law enforcement agencies equipping themselves with military-style technology and weapons. Much of that was sparked by the shooting of an unarmed young black man by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9.

Riots ensued, and heavily armed officers wearing armor and using military-style transports tried to end the disruption. President Barack Obama has since ordered an investigation into the distribution of military items to local agencies.

Eckerdt said he thinks officers deserve protection. Police officers have worn helmets for decades, he noted, although the Powell Police Department does not have any.

The equipment is available through the Department of Defense’s 1033 program, which offers military equipment to agencies to deal with drug and terrorist operations, as well as officer safety. The equipment is offered at no charge.

The National Defense Authorization Act allowed the transfer of the equipment to federal and state agencies. Since 1997, according to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union, $4.3 billion in military equipment has been transferred to local law enforcement, including almost half a billion in 2013 alone.

— Staff writer CJ Baker contributed to this report.

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