Local Police Benefit From Surplus Military Gear; Does The Public?

As US troops came home from war, the Pentagon decided to give surplus weapons, vehicles, and other gear to state, county, and local agencies for free.

In our area, according to data recently published, Scott County has taken advantage of this the most.

The first things you see when pulling up to the Georgetown Police Department are the hummers.

"We have acquired quite a bit of equipment for free from the military," said Georgetown Police Chief Mike Bosse.

Bosse said every police has a first aid kit courtesy of the military.

Also courtesy of the military, five hummers.

"This past winter we used them to transport people who could not get their prescription drugs filled, or who needed dialysis," said Bosse.

In a way, Bosse said police have tried to become like the military.  For example, police function top-down.  The phrase police militarization doesn’t bother Bosse in this context.

"We have learned these techniques are beneficial to law enforcement and more importantly the public," said Bosse.

Senator Rand Paul described police militarization as the federal government helping police build small armies.  This context, Bosse didn’t like.

Courtesy of the military, Scott County received 76 assault rifles, according to data published by the New York Times.  The Sheriff says his office didn’t receive any of them. 

Bosse said police need assault rifles to have equal fire power to criminals.

Bosse said Georgetown Police have received hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment, weapons, and vehicles from the military, and not from local tax dollars.