Photo: AP
Ever since police responded to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri with tear gas, armored military trucks and riot gear, some of the military vehicles received by different schools around the country are now being sent back. Almost two dozen education and civil liberties groups sent a letter earlier this week to the Pentagon and the Justice and Education departments asking them to stop the transfer of military weapons to school police.
It sounds like all that criticism towards the crazy military devices school police has received might not be quite normal, considering there is obviously no war of any kind going on. According to Desert Sun, several school districts claim they will give some of the equipment back.
The Los Angeles School District, which is America’s second largest school district enrolling more than 900,000 students, also joined the other schools. They claim they would remove three grenade launchers (yes, grenade launchers in a University camp), acquired back in 2001. However, the district plans to keep the 60 M16s and a military vehicle - known as an MRA - used in Iraq and Afghanistan that was built to withstand mine blasts.
Why do they need the M16? Well, according to what the district police Chief Steve Zipperman told The Associated Press, they are used for training, while the vehicle was acquired because the district could not afford to buy armored vehicles. The MRA would be used to protect officers and help students in a school shooting.
How come schools receive military gear from the government for free? Well, through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program. Also called the 1033 Program, it provides surplus DoD military equipment to state and local civilian law enforcement agencies for use in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations, and to enhance officer safety.
According to the federal records, schools in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Utah obtained military gear. Most of the schools that got in the program, joined it every since the horrible Columbine school shooting in 1999, when two seniors murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher, injuring another 21 additional people.
Highly influential, it is noted as one of the most serious of a series of high profile spree shootings which have occurred since then. The Columbine High School massacre was the deadliest mass murder committed on an American school campus since 1927. That was, however, until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in 2012, when 20-year old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children an 6 adult staff members.
The Los Angeles School District, which is America’s second largest school district enrolling more than 900,000 students, also joined the other schools. They claim they would remove three grenade launchers (yes, grenade launchers in a University camp), acquired back in 2001. However, the district plans to keep the 60 M16s and a military vehicle - known as an MRA - used in Iraq and Afghanistan that was built to withstand mine blasts.
Why do they need the M16? Well, according to what the district police Chief Steve Zipperman told The Associated Press, they are used for training, while the vehicle was acquired because the district could not afford to buy armored vehicles. The MRA would be used to protect officers and help students in a school shooting.
How come schools receive military gear from the government for free? Well, through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program. Also called the 1033 Program, it provides surplus DoD military equipment to state and local civilian law enforcement agencies for use in counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism operations, and to enhance officer safety.
According to the federal records, schools in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Utah obtained military gear. Most of the schools that got in the program, joined it every since the horrible Columbine school shooting in 1999, when two seniors murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher, injuring another 21 additional people.
Highly influential, it is noted as one of the most serious of a series of high profile spree shootings which have occurred since then. The Columbine High School massacre was the deadliest mass murder committed on an American school campus since 1927. That was, however, until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in 2012, when 20-year old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children an 6 adult staff members.
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