North County law enforcement agencies have scooped up millions of dollars worth of military hand-me-down equipment in the past two decades to use in police work.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department, the Escondido and Oceanside police departments and other agencies have snapped up the surplus gear, according to a recent report by California Watch, a nonprofit investigative reporting group. The secondhand equipment ---- which included a $3.6 million helicopter acquired by the Sheriff's Department ---- is free for the departments, which then adapt the equipment to meet their policing needs.
"It's a way for our department to save money and access things we can't afford that we need," said Lt. James Stuard of the Escondido Police Department.
Escondido police have acquired at least $900,000 worth of surplus military equipment since 1994 through the federal Department of Defense, according to military data made available by California Watch. Oceanside police have picked up at least $38,400 in surplus gear, and the sheriff's department has acquired equipment worth at least $4.3 million.
The value of the equipment is based on what the military paid of it, according to California Watch.
More than 17,000 local agencies nationwide have taken advantage of the military equipment giveaways through the federal Department of Defense program, according to California Watch. Local agencies have acquired an estimated $2.8 billion worth of surplus gear ---- everything from toilet paper to tanks ---- since the program started in the 1990s.
Qualified agencies may look over and select gear online, authorities said. Once the military approves the transfer, local agencies can send someone pick up the equipment from collection spots across the country, including Camp Pendleton. Federal agencies get first dibs on the gear.
Local agencies can sell some equipment when they're done using it, or transfer it to another agency, authorities said. Items with an "offensive military capacity" are considered on loan to local agencies, with the Department of Defense retaining ownership. As a condition of the loans, the department requires local agencies to keep track of the items, and return them when they're are finished using them.
The Department of Defense recently fired off a round of letters warning state law enforcement officials to track down every gun, helicopter and Humvee that the military had loaned them under the surplus program, or have their access to the handouts cut off, according to article published Friday by The Associated Press. Officials at the agency have stopped issuing weapons to thousands of police departments until they're satisfied they've had a full accounting of where all the giveaways have landed.
It was unknown Friday whether any North County agencies got warning letters from the federal agency.
The biggest-ticket item acquired by a San Diego County agency was a UH-1H helicopter, according to California Watch's military data.
The Sheriff's Department got it in the early 1990s, a sheriff's official said Wednesday. He said no military surplus aircraft were currently in service at the department.
Escondido police have gotten military surplus water tanks and generators to power lights at the department's shooting range, Stuard said.
He said the department also used the military surplus program to give every sworn Escondido police officer a rifle for situations where there's a known or suspected threat, Stuard said. And the program helped the department give every officer extra-strong body armor to wear over their bullet-proof vests in dangerous situations.
"Especially in these challenging economic times, if you go to the (police) chief or the (city) council and say we need $30,000 for ballistic upgrades, it's hard," Stuard said. "But if it's available through a loan program from the military where it's going to get either destroyed or given to somebody else, we can get what we need that way."
The equipment isn't completely free to local taxpayers because it was originally purchased with federal tax money, and some equipment requires upgrades or supplemental gear, Stuard said. But taxpayers are still getting a significant discount, he said.
For example, the department had to buy carriers for each piece of the heavy-duty body armor at a cost of less than $100 per piece, Stuard said. He said the armor alone would have cost about $600 per piece if purchased new.
The deep discount meant the city could afford to give its officers superior protection, Stuard said.
"I think we're the only agency that I know of that issues all of their officers those rifle-protection plates," he said.
Some people have voiced concerns that giving local police departments access to heavy-duty military equipment is causing them to increasingly resemble small armies ---- instead of community partners tasked with diffusing situations with minimal violence.
Stuard said police may be using military equipment such as high-powered rifles, but unlike soldiers, officers don't use them as their primary weapons. Officers use them in limited circumstances and do not carry them in public on a day-to-day basis.
Like heavy-duty protective gear, the rifles can help keep officers safe by reducing they chance they'll be out-gunned, he said.
"Explain to me why I should let one of my men or women go into harm's way without the best level of protection I can give them?" Stuard asked.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department, the Escondido and Oceanside police departments and other agencies have snapped up the surplus gear, according to a recent report by California Watch, a nonprofit investigative reporting group. The secondhand equipment ---- which included a $3.6 million helicopter acquired by the Sheriff's Department ---- is free for the departments, which then adapt the equipment to meet their policing needs.
"It's a way for our department to save money and access things we can't afford that we need," said Lt. James Stuard of the Escondido Police Department.
Escondido police have acquired at least $900,000 worth of surplus military equipment since 1994 through the federal Department of Defense, according to military data made available by California Watch. Oceanside police have picked up at least $38,400 in surplus gear, and the sheriff's department has acquired equipment worth at least $4.3 million.
The value of the equipment is based on what the military paid of it, according to California Watch.
More than 17,000 local agencies nationwide have taken advantage of the military equipment giveaways through the federal Department of Defense program, according to California Watch. Local agencies have acquired an estimated $2.8 billion worth of surplus gear ---- everything from toilet paper to tanks ---- since the program started in the 1990s.
Qualified agencies may look over and select gear online, authorities said. Once the military approves the transfer, local agencies can send someone pick up the equipment from collection spots across the country, including Camp Pendleton. Federal agencies get first dibs on the gear.
Local agencies can sell some equipment when they're done using it, or transfer it to another agency, authorities said. Items with an "offensive military capacity" are considered on loan to local agencies, with the Department of Defense retaining ownership. As a condition of the loans, the department requires local agencies to keep track of the items, and return them when they're are finished using them.
The Department of Defense recently fired off a round of letters warning state law enforcement officials to track down every gun, helicopter and Humvee that the military had loaned them under the surplus program, or have their access to the handouts cut off, according to article published Friday by The Associated Press. Officials at the agency have stopped issuing weapons to thousands of police departments until they're satisfied they've had a full accounting of where all the giveaways have landed.
It was unknown Friday whether any North County agencies got warning letters from the federal agency.
The biggest-ticket item acquired by a San Diego County agency was a UH-1H helicopter, according to California Watch's military data.
The Sheriff's Department got it in the early 1990s, a sheriff's official said Wednesday. He said no military surplus aircraft were currently in service at the department.
Escondido police have gotten military surplus water tanks and generators to power lights at the department's shooting range, Stuard said.
He said the department also used the military surplus program to give every sworn Escondido police officer a rifle for situations where there's a known or suspected threat, Stuard said. And the program helped the department give every officer extra-strong body armor to wear over their bullet-proof vests in dangerous situations.
"Especially in these challenging economic times, if you go to the (police) chief or the (city) council and say we need $30,000 for ballistic upgrades, it's hard," Stuard said. "But if it's available through a loan program from the military where it's going to get either destroyed or given to somebody else, we can get what we need that way."
The equipment isn't completely free to local taxpayers because it was originally purchased with federal tax money, and some equipment requires upgrades or supplemental gear, Stuard said. But taxpayers are still getting a significant discount, he said.
For example, the department had to buy carriers for each piece of the heavy-duty body armor at a cost of less than $100 per piece, Stuard said. He said the armor alone would have cost about $600 per piece if purchased new.
The deep discount meant the city could afford to give its officers superior protection, Stuard said.
"I think we're the only agency that I know of that issues all of their officers those rifle-protection plates," he said.
Some people have voiced concerns that giving local police departments access to heavy-duty military equipment is causing them to increasingly resemble small armies ---- instead of community partners tasked with diffusing situations with minimal violence.
Stuard said police may be using military equipment such as high-powered rifles, but unlike soldiers, officers don't use them as their primary weapons. Officers use them in limited circumstances and do not carry them in public on a day-to-day basis.
Like heavy-duty protective gear, the rifles can help keep officers safe by reducing they chance they'll be out-gunned, he said.
"Explain to me why I should let one of my men or women go into harm's way without the best level of protection I can give them?" Stuard asked.