AP Success - AP U.S. Gov & Pol: Concept Application: Critiquing Section 1033 and ACLU strategy and reform

In 1997, President Bill Clinton signed the National Defense Authorization Act. Section 1033 of the act authorized the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies with surplus military equipment. Participating agencies would only need to cover the cost of shipping to receive in-demand supplies such as medical kits, sleeping bags, and generators. Section 1033 also authorized the transfer of most military weaponry and vehicles, minus combat tanks.

Although participating police departments must submit to oversight, investigations have discovered widespread abuse of this program. The Government Accountability Office admitted in 2005 that the government “does not have the management controls in place” to stop fraudulent equipment claims, including outright theft. 

Other criticisms of Section 1033 include the perception that it has led to the militarization of U.S. police departments. The argument claims that militarized police are more apt to violence. The American Civil Liberties Union calls for the revocation of Section 1033, as “the frequency of state violence against protesters in the U.S. makes it easy to forget that, if our military used tear gas against protesters elsewhere, it would be a war crime.”