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Obama Rolls Back Military-Style Equipment Program For Local Law Enforcement

A mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, that has been converted for local agency use at the Summit County Sheriff's office in Ohio.
Seluryar
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Law enforcement agencies across Oklahoma may have to return military-style equipment after President Barack Obama announced he is prohibiting the federal government from providing certain vehicles and firearms through the Law Enforcement Support Office.

After a string of racially fueled protests across the country, Obama says the federal government will no longer fund certain equipment for local agencies, including tracked armored vehicles and firearms and ammunition .50 caliber or higher.

Chris West is the undersheriff at the Canadian County’s Sheriff’s Department. He says the isolated events across the country should not result in a widespread ban on equipment like the mine-resistant vehicle his agency received last spring.

“Here in Oklahoma, we're not Baltimore. We would never use this equipment to violate the constitutional rights and the due process of our citizens. It's just the opposite, we're using this equipment to safeguard and protect them and their constitutional rights,” West says.

West says the Canadian County Sheriff has deployed the armored vehicle three times since the department received the equipment. The agency is fairly small, and he says the military surplus program allows peace of mind at an affordable price.

“There's way more law enforcement agencies that cannot afford this type of equipment through the civilian markets. This program has made it possible for the smaller agencies who have smaller budgets to be able to provide protection to the officers who are putting their lives in harm’s way,” West says.

The distributed equipment is de-militarized, but Obama says some vehicles and firearms could undermine trust in the police. His administration is considering ways to recall equipment already at local agencies.

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