1033 program

The 1033 Program was created by the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1997 as part of the U.S. Government's Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services (DLA) to transfer excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on Sept 23, 1996. As of 2014^[update], 8,000 local law enforcement agencies participated in the reutilization program that has transferred $5.1 billion in military hardware from the Department of Defense to local American law enforcement agencies since 1997. According to the DLA, material worth $449 million was transferred in 2013 alone. The most commonly obtained item from the 1033 program is DEMIL A items, which fall off the inventory after one year of ownership. Some of the other most commonly requested items include cold weather clothing, sand bags, medical supplies, sleeping bags, flashlights and electrical wiring. Small arms and vehicles such as aircraft, watercraft and armored vehicles have also been obtained.

The program has been criticized over the years by local media, by the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense in 2003 and the GAO which found waste, abuse and fraud. It was not until media coverage of police during August 2014 Ferguson unrest that the program drew nationwide public attention. It should be noted that the Ferguson Police Department had 1033 equipment during the unrest, obtained prior per the 1033 Program. President Obama signed Executive Order 13688 on May 2015 limiting and prohibiting certain types of equipment. On August 28, 2017 President Trump rolled back Obama's Executive Order. The ACLU and the NAACP have raised concerns about the so-called militarization of police forces in the US.

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