Assault Rifles, Humvees and More Go Missing in 184 Police Departments

By Aura Bogado Aug 26, 2014

Following a massive, militarized show of force in Ferguson over the last few weeks, President Obama has ordered a review of federal programs that supply military equipment to local and state police departments. But we now know that at least one of those, the Pentagon’s 1033 program, is already in deep trouble.

Fusion’s Daniel Rivero and Jorge Rivas uncovered that 184 police departments have been suspended from the weapons program because equipment either went missing, or the departments were otherwise unable to comply with program rules. Among the weapons that went missing are M14 and M16 assault rifles, .45 caliber pistols, shotguns and even two Humvees.

Fusion explains part of the obstacle the program faces in keeping track of weapons:

The decentralized structure of the program makes it difficult — even for the Pentagon — to keep tabs on the standing of participating police departments, or the weapons they’ve been issued. Officials at the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), which runs the equipment-transfer program, were unable to provide specifics about why various police departments were suspended. And many state coordinators refused to speak to Fusion, or claimed they didn’t have the information requested.

Perhaps more troubling? The departments that are kicked out of the Pentagon’s weapon program are ineligible for new equipment–but it’s not unusual for them to get to keep the military equipment they already got.

Read Rivero’s and Rivas’s full investigation over at Fusion