Texas cops, like Ferguson's, have military hardware on hand
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The pictures and video from Ferguson, Missouri of police officers patrolling with heavy weapons, military uniforms and armored military vehicles have been striking.
Much of that gear comes from a Department of Defense surplus program that gives law enforcement agencies excess military gear for use on city streets.
The program has been controversial.
"The excessive militarism in policing, particularly through the use of paramilitary policing teams, escalates the risk of violence, threatens individual liberties, and unfairly impacts people of color," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a June report about the program.
And while Ferguson may be the recent, public face of police militarization, Texas also participates in that Defense Department program.
Since 2012, more than $77 million worth of gear flowed from the Defense Department to Texas police agencies.
The biggest receivers are on the border: El Paso and Hidalgo Counties.
Third on the list? Harris County, where police agencies have collected more than $4 million dollars in military gear.
The federal data doesn't get any more specific than the county level, but the Harris County Sheriff's office has the two most expensive pieces, a pair of mine resistant armored vehicles.
One is now used for the SWAT team, the other for high water rescues, officials said.
Each vehicle hey cost U.S. taxpayers $733,000 each, but were free of charge to the sheriff.
That makes some sense, since if the feds can't give them away the vehicles are scrapped. We reported in December on that happening in Sealy.
The Galveston Police Department and the League City Police Department also each have one of those armored transports.
Also on the list were thousands of guns and bulletproof vests.
This oddity jumped out at us: Some agency in Harris County ordered 200 snow camouflage jackets and 123 extreme cold weather parkas.
It's good to know that some of our local cops are ready when the next blizzard hits Houston. (The last one was in 1895.)
Look for yourself what your local police agencies have received from the Pentagon since 2012:
A search for Chambers and Fort Bend Counties showed no Defense Department weaponry or equipment.
In checking with a few of the local recipients no police agency we contacted agrees that this is a "militarization." One chief said it is simply using expertise learned in the military to help in the civilian world.
And Sheriff Adrian Garcia also said that "the Department of Defense surplus program does not cause the militarization of local law enforcement."
"In fact the equipment obtained by the Harris County Sheriff's Office has a primary mission to save lives during severe weather events," he told ABC-13 in an email. "The use of certain tactics has become more important in a day and time where law enforcement is required to maintain vigilance against both domestic and international terrorism."
But those pictures in Ferguson certainly brought out very strong opinions. And Defense Department program will be getting a fresh look from Congress.
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services committee, said today that lawmakers would review the program and if it is turning local law enforcement agencies into militarized zones.
"Congress established this program out of real concern that local law enforcement agencies were literally outgunned by drug criminals," the Michigan Democrat said in a statement. "We intended this equipment to keep police officers and their communities safe from heavily armed drug gangs and terrorist incidents. Before the defense authorization bill comes to the Senate floor, we will review this program to determine if equipment provided by the Defense Department is being used as intended."
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Producer: Trent Seibert
