Want a mine-resistant vehicle? Trump thinks if you are local police, you should get one for free

You get a tank, he gets a tank, she gets a tank. Everyone gets a tank from Donald Trump.

 Is there a need for a local police force in any city or town in America to have in its possession a tank that can withstand bombs, grenades, and minefields? Most assuredly not. In fact, it defies logic and comprehension. But no matter: Donald Trump wants to make sure that police can have access to them anyway. 

It is a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle, known as a MRAP, and they each weigh 18 tons and are designed to withstand bombs, bullets, mines and grenades. They’ve been used in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in America, in cities such as Miami Beach, Florida, and Fairbanks, Alaska.

These vehicles and thousands of other pieces of military surplus equipment have been shipped free to law enforcement agencies across the country after President Donald Trump, in an executive order in August, removed Obama-era reforms that had banned local police from receiving some equipment and placed tight restrictions on others.

Because he’s not smart enough to have thought of it, the military equipment surplus program is not Trump’s invention. In 1990, Congress created the 1033 program which allowed the transfer of military gear and weapons from the Department of Defense to federal and state law enforcement organizations who were working on drug enforcement. It was in 1997, however, that the program expanded—thereby allowing for the transfer of this equipment to all law enforcement agencies. They do not pay for the cost of the equipment, short of shipping.

In the wake of the uprising in Ferguson, Obama restricted the program in 2015. We all remember the various images of police clad in riot gear and looming as an occupying force against unarmed protestors. It was then that the administration decided to tighten the program. And since they are intent on undoing everything that Obama did, it was back in August of this year that the Trump administration decided to scrap the restrictions and arm local police up to their teeth.

After Obama tightened the program in 2015, for instance, police departments seeking MRAPs from the Defense Department had to submit a detailed justification for why they were needed and how officers would be trained to use them.

“We’ve seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people a feeling like there’s an occupying force,” Obama said at the time. “Some equipment made for the battlefield is not appropriate for local police departments.”

Now that Trump and his buddy Jeff Sessions have signed off on giving police all the military-grade weapons they want, there is no accountability and police are no longer required to submit the detailed justification for how they will use this equipment and how officers will be trained. While the number of equipment given to police hasn’t yet seen an increase under this administration, the fact that they’ve rescinded this policy means that police are free to get combat equipment and use it however they wish, without any oversight. Knowing what we do about the need for police reform, this is a recipe for disaster. 

Obama banned the shipment to police of grenade launchers, weaponized vehicles, bayonets, rifles, ammunition of .50 caliber or higher, and certain armored vehicles that resemble tanks. Under Trump, those items are no longer prohibited. [...]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, announcing the rollback of Obama’s order, said the program “went too far.”

“We will not put superficial concerns above public safety,” Sessions said. “This isn’t about appearances, it’s about getting the job done and getting everyone to safety.”

We should really be pressing Jeff to answer the question of whose safety this is meant to protect. Crime overall is down nationwide and, according to the Department of Labor, being a police officer is not actually the most dangerous job you can have. Moreover, the trend shows officer deaths down from an 231 in 1970-1980 to 165 from 2000-2010. Still, Sessions and Trump want us to believe that police having grenades, bayonets, and tanks will make us all safer. Yeah, right. If you believe that, you probably also believe that this president is doing a good job and making the country great again. Making it fearful, hateful, and dangerous—absolutely. But safe and great should never be two adjectives we use to describe this monstrosity.