10 Insane Things the Pentagon Gave to Local Law Enforcement

The Department of Defense Excess Property Program (1033) has seen a lot of criticism lately, as news surfaces about how local police departments are using the Pentagon’s extras. Pentagon equipment used by the St. Louis County Police in Ferguson, Missouri — the scene of riots following the shooting of Michael Brown — includes multiple $47,000 trucks and scores of military rifles. The New York Times highlighted the program and produced an interactive graphic to show the flow of weapons from Defense to police. According to the Times, the program started as a countermeasure to high crime in the 1990s.

Using data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and covering 2006-2014, we looked into the type and cost of equipment that local law enforcement has been receiving from the Pentagon. Items ranged from aircraft (some costing over $5 million each) to screws and washers (36 cents each). Most of the equipment filtering down to local law enforcement will not surprise the average citizen — mostly rifles, handguns and related equipment — but we found a lot of questionable line items.

1. 240 pair of “DRAWERS,EXTREME COLD WEATHER” for a total cost of $1,770.65. San Diego County, California.

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La Jolla Beach, San Diego (kan_khampanya/Shutterstock.com)

2. 200 pairs of “SOCKS” for a total cost of $468. Wichita County, Texas.

The Pentagon gave or sold a lot of socks to different counties. The document contains 175 line items with the word “socks” in them, with nearly every state receiving the all-important garments. Wichita, Texas, received 200 pairs of Pentagon-issued socks, presumably, for inmates at the James V. Allred Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Otherwise, law enforcement in Wichita County is swimming in socks.