Law enforcement organizations are defending a Defense Department program that provides surplus military equipment to local police, even as it faces a White House review and bipartisan criticism after the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Police in the St. Louis suburb were sharply criticized for wearing military gear and using military-style weapons and vehicles to deal with unrest after a white police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black.
While there is the potential for a local police department to misuse its advanced equipment, “that’s not a reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Cedric Alexander, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, told TheBlaze.
