A Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle that sits in front of Police headquarters in Watertown, Conn.,in this July 16, 2014, photo. The city acquired the armored vehicle through a federal program, which allows law enforcement agencies to receive surplus military property through their state coordinating office.ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota law enforcement agencies have almost $10 million in military hardware - including about 3,300 weapons, 40 tactical vehicles and 40 pairs of night-vision goggles - through a federal program that transfers military surplus equipment to local police.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that this amount worries some who fear police are becoming too militarized. But law enforcement agencies say the gear is misunderstood.
"The equipment comes from the military, but it is not being used in Minnesota in most cases in that type of traditional military fashion," said Andy Skoogman, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association. Skoogman said his group is polling members, and so far, most chiefs feel strongly that the equipment is important.
"It provides officers with equipment, guns and night-vision goggles to help solve crimes as well as keep citizens and themselves safe," Skoogman said. "It provides office equipment that many departments and cities cannot afford. It provides fitness equipment that keeps officers in shape and in good health."
But Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, said he's concerned, especially after watching a heavily armed police response to protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black 18-year-old.
"We're beginning to see that there are certain tactics that police use, certain equipment that police use, that treats a community more like an occupying force," Samuelson said.
Joe Kelly, deputy director of Minnesota's Homeland Security and Emergency Management, says Minnesota has received a total of $25 million in gear over the years, including furniture, clothing and computers. Currently, 280 law enforcement agencies throughout the state have $10 million in equipment from the program, totaling more than 6,000 items.
Some who back the federal program say critics focus too much on the devices' names, instead of what they are used for.
For example, the Anoka Police Department has a grenade launcher. Chief Phil Johanson said his department has never used it and that it wouldn't launch grenades. However, he said, the launcher "could be used to deploy tear gas to hopefully get (a suspect) to come out if we had a hostage or barricaded subject, maybe an active shooter situation."
Dakota County has one of seven Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Sheriff Dave Bellows said it's an armored vehicle to protect officers from being shot, but it doesn't have weapons attached to it.
Skoogman said other items include a mobile rock-climbing wall that Breckenridge police use at community events, and a former military truck that Janesville police have used to rescue snow-stranded motorists.
Still, M16 rifles make up nearly 40 percent of the military equipment in Minnesota. St. Paul police, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota State Patrol and other agencies say the M16s have been modified so they are no longer automatic weapons.
"You'll never see a St. Paul officer just out there on patrol with this rifle," said St. Paul police Cmdr. Tim Flynn. "If it's in their hands, it's a reaction to a serious crime that has just been committed."