Just how many Missouri law enforcement agencies that have submitted applications is unknown, unlike their counterparts to the west in Kansas.
The 41 Action News investigators have uncovered the Missouri agency responsible for approval of applications for surplus military equipment, like Mine Resistance Vehicles (MRAPs), has not denied a single application for MRAPs that has come across its desk. In addition, the department responsible for approving applications has not kept statistics detailing how many applications have been approved or denied.
Documents the 41 Action News investigators obtained through Kansas and Missouri open records requests raise new questions about oversight of the program that distributes surplus military equipment to police
How the program works
The federal Defense Logistic Agency manages the Law Enforcement Support Office 1033 program, which transfers surplus military equipment to law enforcement agencies instead of destroying the equipment in question. The agency relies on state agencies to process and approve applications for the program. Applicants only pay the cost of shipping the equipment, upkeep and storage. Advocates of the program argue that it gives local departments equipment they couldn’t afford while putting equipment already paid for by federal taxpayers to use.
To date, the DLA has provided $5.1 billion in equipment to local law enforcement agencies. The agency figures 5 percent of that equipment were weapons and less than 1 percent were tactical vehicles like MRAPs.
However, because DLA depends on state run agencies to approve acceptance into the program as well as processes and approves applications for equipment, how difficult it is for a police department to obtained Mine Resistant vehicles could depend on the department’s side of the state line.
For instance, the Clay County Sheriff’s office in Missouri turned in an application for a Mine Resistant Vehicle in February 2014. The application required they answer 12 questions and sign an affidavit that they would be responsible for the “demilitarization” of the equipment.
Only one of the questions asked for clarification about how the department planned to use the equipment. On Clay County’s application, they listed a myriad of reasons the department, which at the time did not have an armored vehicle, could use the equipment.
“Swat, active shooter, barricaded suspect, emergency response, first responded, critical incident hostage rescue, natural disaster rescue, homeland security, officer rescue, etc,” the application stated.
(The application does not ask departments any questions about whether the department has any training or plans any training in how and when to deploy the equipment.)
A state coordinator approved Clay County’s application, and in April, the department received a six-wheeled MRAP.
In June, the department gave 41 Action News a tour of the vehicle and pointed out circumstances where the vehicle could have provided protection for deputies. One of the examples they provided was an instance where an armed gunman was believed to be on the top of Eastgate Middle School in North Kansas City.
“There was a desperate need for something like this. That’s a $750,000 machine that we got for absolutely nothing. (Local) Taxpayers didn’t have to pay anything for it,” Captain Matt Hunger of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said.
The smaller Bates County Sheriff’s Office just south of Kansas City also applied for an MRAP. Their application detailed lengthy response times when trying to get an armored vehicle from another department to help respond to emergency situations like active shooters. It also reported needing to activate the state National Guard to response with military grade vehicles to “assist in responding to rural areas during high water and heavy snow.”
The state also approved that request.
In Missouri, the Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Unit is responsible for the application process. The unit is under the direction of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, which also oversees the state emergency management agency, the Missouri Highway Patrol, Capitol Police and the National Guard. Some agencies, like the Missouri Highway Patrol and Capitol Police, received equipment through the program.
Statistics the Missouri Department of Public Safety provided show the agency had received 41 applications for MRAPS from law enforcement agencies in Missouri. The state has approved 28 applications and has 13 applications pending.
The department could not site a single instance where they had denied an application.
In addition, a spokesman told 41 Action News that the state does not keep statistics on how many applications they processed overall nor the amount of applications they denied. The agency said it was able to provide statistics about MRAPs because there were so few applications involved.
How does it work in Kansas
The Department of Administration which is oversees things like surplus property, facilities and contracts in the state, administers the application process in the sunflower state. Kansas has received 16 applications for MRAPs. Nine of those applications were either rejected or the department which applied withdrew its request.
Kansas has only approved applications for 7 MRAPS. Six have been delivered, one is pending. (The Olathe Police Department and Shawnee Police Department received two of those MRAPS.)
Kansas also provided 41 Action News statistics unavailable in Missouri regarding its distribution of other equipment available through the program. Along with rifles and pistols, the equipment includes defibrillators, body armor, robots to detonate explosives and even exercise equipment. To date, Kansas has received 2,067 applications overall, rejecting one-tenth of them.
These statistics raise questions about the inconsistencies in how the program is administered at a time when lawmakers, like Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, have criticized the program and called for hearings about it. Groups like the Missouri chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union have raised similar concerns about whether state coordinators feel pressure to approve equipment police advocate they need to protect themselves and citizens in dangerous situations.
”What you are finding is without careful thought as to why they (MRAPs) are necessary to use them, they are just excess and then they are used improperly,” Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the Missouri chapter of the ACLU, told 41 Action News.
Mittman is a former member of the military himself. He said the ACLU believes the program does provide valuable equipment for police to respond to specific circumstances, however his organization wants to make sure that the equipment is used appropriately and with the proper training.
"The tools in and of themselves are neither good nor bad. It's the way we use them and whether we have rules in place to ensure they're only used when needed,” Mittman said.
The Defense Logistics Agency denied our request to do an interview on this subject saying due to the overwhelming demand for interviews following Ferguson, they could not accommodate all of the interviews requested.
However, in an email response, a spokeswoman for the agency said:
We rely on the state coordinators to ensure that the requests for 1033 program items are appropriate for the mission and scope of the requesting agency. Recently, the President called for a review of the 1033 program. Secretary Hagel has directed his staff to cooperate fully with the review to ensure that the transfer of Department of Defense materials for law enforcement strikes the proper balance of accountability and purpose.
41 Action News made multiple attempts by email and phone to ask the Missouri Department of Public Safety to answer specific questions about our findings. The agency did not respond to our request for an on-camera interview, but did provide us with rules they follow when determining how to process applications.
- The applicant agency must be a law enforcement agency (defined as a government agency whose primary function is the enforcement of applicable federal, state, and local laws whose compensated officers have powers of arrest and apprehension).
- Agency will use the equipment for current law enforcement purposes only and will not cannibalize the equipment without a submission in writing.
- Agency will provide for proper security and storage of DoD-acquired assets.
- Agency will utilize tracking and sign-out procedures for LESO assets.
- Agency will obtain prior approval of any transfer of high visibility assets.
- Agency will report all lost, missing or stolen assets, and comply with LESO inventory reporting requirements.
- Property should be fairly and equitable distributed to the great extent possible, and generally, not more than one item of any kind per officer should be allocated.
- Law enforcement agencies that are suspended from the program shall not be considered.
The department said if “a Missouri law enforcement agency meets/agrees to these requirements and states a law enforcement use for the equipment, DPS certifies and forwards the application to the DoD, unless the agency is otherwise ineligible.”
But organizations like the ACLU believe part of these rules should also ensure departments have the training to use these assets to properly and that they really do need the equipment in question.
"It is incumbent on the government officials to set up rules regulations procedures to ensure they are only used when they should be used,” said Mittman.
Watch 41 Action News at 10 p.m. for Melissa Yeager's investigation.
