President Barack Obama has ordered his administration to review the federal programs that send military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement, the New York Times reported Saturday.
The review will probe whether the programs — like the 1033 program, which sends military gear to police free of charge — should continue and, if they should, whether police receive the proper training for operating the equipment.
The programs have come under scrutiny as images have poured out of Ferguson, Mo., depicting heavily armed police forces facing off with protesters. Some lawmakers, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), are mulling legislation to reform the programs.
Obama himself said this week that the programs should be reevaluated after Ferguson.
“I think it’s probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone, how local law enforcement has used grant dollars to make sure that what they’re purchasing is stuff that they actually need,” he said at a Monday press conference. “I think there will be some bipartisan interest in reexamining some of those programs.”
