On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Urges Nampa, Idaho City Council to Reject Police Militarization, Restore Balance Between Citizens and Police by Returning MRAP
NAMPA, Idaho—At the request of citizens of Nampa, Idaho, John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, is urging the Nampa City Council to reject police militarization and return its police department’s military-grade equipment, specifically a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP), which was reportedly acquired through grants from the Department of Homeland Security. Pointing out that the discussion about whether police officers need rifles, night vision scopes, or an armored vehicle is one that needs to engage the entire community and must be decided by local residents and their elected representatives, and not be decided unilaterally by the federal government, the military, or law enforcement, Whitehead stressed that whenever this kind of armament is brought into a community, it should only be done with the knowledge and consent of the citizenry. Furthermore, Whitehead noted that military recycling programs carry hidden costs of repair and maintenance, and result in heightened risk for the community by transforming local police into extensions of the military.
“While we all want our law enforcement officers to be able to do their job, which is to maintain the peace and uphold the Constitution, and we want them to be safe and protected while doing so, we cannot afford to sacrifice our freedoms in the process,” stated Whitehead, author of A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State. “The American police force is not supposed to be a branch of the military but exists for a sole purpose: to serve and protect the citizens of each and every American community. Thus, it now falls to local governing bodies to restore the rightful balance between the citizenry and those appointed to safeguard their freedoms.”
Local police agencies in all 50 states and four U.S. territories participate in the Pentagon’s 1033 “recycling” program, and the share of equipment and weaponry gifted each year continues to expand. Since 1990, $4.2 billion worth of military weapons and equipment has been transferred from the Defense Department to domestic police agencies through the 1033 program, in addition to various other programs purportedly aimed at fighting the government’s War on Drugs and War on Terror. The MRAP is an intimidating part of this “recycling” program. Weighing in at 20 tons, an MRAP is built to withstand everything from small arms fire to improvised explosive device blasts, attributes that are wholly unnecessary for routine domestic policing. Furthermore, while supposedly acquired for little up front, these $733,000 battering rams come with hidden costs that can add up to tens of thousands of dollars yearly in maintenance and repair. However, as Whitehead notes in his letter to the City Council, “When the Department of Homeland Security launched its 1033 surplus military equipment recycling program, it laid the groundwork for a transformation of local law enforcement into extensions of the military, upsetting a critical balance established by our Founding Fathers who warned against establishing a standing army that would see American citizens as potential combatants.” For the sake of greater transparency, accountability, and oversight when it comes to police acquisition and deployment of military-grade equipment, The Rutherford Institute is recommending that the Nampa City Council adopt a policy of direct oversight to ensure that if local law enforcement acquires such weapons, they do so with the blessing of the community.
