Military gear caches at the local level


By SB Anderson

New York Times today published a great interactive resource for finding out how militarized your local police departments have become, courtesy of Washington. http://nyti.ms/1t2BM79

NYT military gear interactive map

Click for interactive map showing surplus military gear local departments have gotten from Washington.

UPDATED 8/18 MuckRock.com has handy links to state totals for 1033 distribution, by item type, from 2011 thorough March 2013. While the data doesn’t break down by department level, that MuckRock post has a link to a spreadsheet that shows agencies in your state (although not what they received). MuckRock said it has filed a FOIA request for expanded data.

And the Washington Post’s Wonkblog has some interesting tables, including state breakdowns on value of the surplus property by sworn officer. Alabama is No. 1, at $10,000 per officer, compared to Hawaii, in last place, at $161.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Homeland security grants at work protecting pumpkin festivals, Easter egg hunts and spring training games.

And finally, John Oliver’s take last night on police militarization.