COLUMBUS, Ohio – State records show the U.S. military has given armored vehicles, assault rifles and thousands of other types of surplus military equipment to Ohio law enforcement agencies in recent years.
Military surplus equipment programs have garnered attention recently in light of violence in Ferguson, Mo., where the local police department had acquired two armored Humvees and other military gear under a surplus equipment program.
The Plain Dealer reports state troopers, sheriff’s departments and city and university police in Ohio have received nearly 4,900 assault rifles and 36 mine-resistant vehicles since 2006 under a Department of Defense program that provides surplus military-style equipment to local police.
Franklin County agencies have received nearly 4,000 assault rifles, 18 pieces of night vision equipment, two mine-resistant vehicles and other equipment through the program. That includes 350 assault rifles for the Columbus Division of Police, according to a report in the New York Times.
Delaware police received a grenade launcher to fire tear gas canisters.
The Plain Dealer report says all but one Ohio county has received some equipment through the program, some of it non-combat gear, such as refrigerators and musical instruments.