Antioch Council bans future acquisition of surplus military equipment on 4-1 vote

Including safety and other free equipment the Pentagon no longer needs

“The chief hasn’t gone out and ordered a bunch of weapons. These are safety items for our officers,” – Councilman Barbanica

Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks rides in his department’s MRAP vehicle during Antioch’s 2017 Holiday DeLites Parade.

By Allen Payton

During their meeting on Tuesday night, March 23, as part of the mayor’s police reform efforts, immediately following public comments that were mixed on the matter, with some in support and others opposed, District 1 Antioch Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker made a motion to “ban the acceptance and or acquisition of surplus military equipment in the future.” Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson seconded the motion. It does not prevent the Antioch Police Department from using the equipment it already has, including the MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle.

District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica spoke against the motion saying, “in our city in the last 12 months we’ve taken over 400 guns off the streets. We’re taking over a gun a day off the streets of our city. This equipment is free to our city. The government doesn’t allow us to sell it. The chief has reached out through this program. We’ve talked about the rescue vehicle. But other things, a robot that can deliver a phone when there’s a hostage situation or someone is in mental crisis, instead of sending in an officer.”

“Some sights for patrol rifles that we didn’t have to go out and buy, for free,” he continued. “First aid kits. The chief hasn’t gone out and ordered a bunch of weapons. These are safety items for our officers…to keep our community safe, as well.”

“I think this is a mistake,” Barbanica concluded.

District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock asked, “my only request is, can’t we do this on a case-by-base basis and not say ‘none’? It’s got to come before council and if the council decides, we can just say ‘no’.”

“The last time we had this conversation, it was my understanding we had very little military grade equipment,” said Torres-Walker. “This says, ‘in the future.’ Some of us remember the militarization of police happened on the heels of the war on drugs. And we had the theft of property. It has negatively impacted people of color, especially Black people.

“If we’re doing our jobs well, we won’t need military equipment,” she continued. “Most of these people acquire these weapons by breaking in your home and stealing your stockpile of weapons.”

“Stop tinkering around the edges,” Torres-Walker added.

“For the record, I don’t believe our police department…you don’t get trained to use military equipment,” Mayor Lamar Thorpe said. “Military equipment is not the standard across our nation. Those are unusual aspects of policing. We’re choosing not to move in that direction anymore. I trust our police officers to do their jobs and not need military equipment to do them.”

The motion passed on a 4-1 vote with Ogorchock voting yes, after a bit of a hesitation, to ban “the City’s future procurement of surplus military equipment by transfer or acquisition.” Barbanica cast the sole vote against the motion.

Federal Program

The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency’s 1033 program allows the Pentagon to give extra military equipment to local police departments across the United States. It’s part of their mission of disposing obsolete and unneeded excess property turned in by U.S. military units around the world. The type of property ranges from military-specific equipment and vehicles to generic office furniture, computers, medical items, and shop equipment. DLA Disposition Services disposes of this property in a variety of ways, including reutilization or transfer to other military components or federal agencies, donating through programs like computers for schools, destruction for scrap metal and resale to the general public.

In the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal years 1990 and 1991, Congress authorized the transfer of excess DoD property to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Congress later passed the NDAA for fiscal year 1997, which allows law enforcement agencies to acquire property for bona fide law enforcement purposes – particularly those associated with counter-drug and counter-terrorism activities. The program has been named the “1033 Program,” which refers to the numbered section of the 1997 NDAA that granted permanent authority to the Secretary of Defense to transfer defense material to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

A bill introduced by Congressman Hank Johnson will “prevent transfers of equipment inappropriate for local policing, such as military weapons, long-range acoustic devices, grenade launchers, weaponized drones, armored military vehicles, and grenades or similar explosives.” But the bill faces an uphill battle for passage in the Senate.

According to a report on The Hill, “former President Obama curtailed the 1033 program in 2015 after local police suppressed protests in Ferguson, MO, using military-grade equipment. But the Trump administration rescinded the restrictions in 2017. President Biden has been expected to issue an executive order reimposing limits on the program.”

Antioch will no longer be allowed to receive any of the surplus equipment.


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