Publication select ▼
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — The Bloomfield Township Police Department is the latest law enforcement agency in the state to join the U.S. Department of Defense’s 1033 Program.
The federal 1033 Program allows local police and law enforcement agencies to obtain surplus military equipment — including weapons, vehicles, electronics and other tactical equipment — at no cost.
“There’s a ton of different eligible items, but they include clothing, office supplies, tools, rescue equipment, vehicles and small arms. Since the program’s inception, less than 2% of the equipment transferred has been small arms, and 1% are tactical vehicles … but in order for us to see what equipment is available for transfer, we have to set up an account with the Department of Defense,” said Bloomfield Township Police Chief James Gallagher.
The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees unanimously voted to approve the plan between the state of Michigan and the Bloomfield Township Police Department for the Secretary of Defense Excess Personal Property Transfer Program July 10.
Over 8,800 law enforcement agencies across the country have enrolled in the program, Gallagher said.
In Michigan, police and law enforcement agencies have received almost $53 million in equipment since the inception of the program in 1990, according to data from The Marshall Project.
Critics of the program are skeptical of bringing “military surplus” weapons and mine-resistant armor-protected vehicles to local streets.
“In full transparency, this program took a bit of a hit under the Obama administration, during the armored vehicles for small agencies of one or two officers. … That is not something the Bloomfield Township Police Department is going to be in need of,” said Gallagher. “We have Oakland County, and their equipment that is eligible for that, so that’s not something we would do.”
Board Trustee Stephanie Fakih said she always found it “a bit unnerving” to see mine-resistant armor-protected vehicles in an everyday residential setting.
“I understand the purpose of why the government runs the program, and I guess every police department has their needs, but I’m happy to hear that you don’t anticipate that being a need of the township,” said Fakih.
Response equipment is what Gallagher hopes to secure through the program.
“A lot of the equipment that we would look for is the tourniquets and medical equipment that we supply each one of our officers in our ‘go bags.’ In the event of an active shooter, or active incident, we have personal bags we can throw on, in addition to our gear, with medical supplies or additional equipment we could use in those situations,” he said. “There’s also things like riot gear and helmets that we don’t need on an everyday basis, so we don’t often purchase them.”
An incident command vehicle that could be shared amongst the police and fire departments is another item on his wish list.
“That would benefit our community and is what we are going to use on a more frequent basis, not one time every five years,” he said.
