Approximately $6 billion of excess Department of Defense property has been transferred to U.S. law enforcement agencies since 1990. Under the 1033 Program, all sorts of items from laptops to assault rifles have been passed from the military to the police. These fall into two categories – controlled items (like drones or helicopters) and uncontrolled items (like office furniture and tools). Even though police militarization has become increasingly controversial, particularly in the wake of Ferguson when mine-resistant vehicles and heavily armed officers appeared on the streets, the flow of weaponry has continued without interruption. A recent RAND analysis of the situation found that in fiscal years 2015 to 2017, the value of uncontrolled transfers came to $1.2 billion while controlled items had a value of $775 million.
RAND found that the current value of all excess Department of Defense items held by law enforcement agencies across the U.S. today stands at $1,888,559,339. The following infographic takes a closer look at a selection of equipment from the analyis and how much it’s currently worth. There are 849 mine-resistant vehicles in operation at U.S. police departments and they have a value of just under $583 million. Elsewhere on the list, 64,689 5.56 millimeter rifles have been transferred to law enforcement and they are worth $27.83 million while the grand total for all aircraft in the program comes to around $433 million.
source: statista