Some agencies in state lose military-issue weapons

In February 2013, a military-issue rifle belonging to the Independence County sheriff's office vanished from the trunk of a patrol car parked in the county's maintenance building.

The weapon -- one of thousands obtained by Arkansas law enforcement agencies as surplus from the Department of Defense over the past two decades -- is subject to strict accounting and use standards from state and federal officials.

Once it disappeared, a sheriff's office supervisor had to follow procedure and notify the government that they'd lost one of their guns.

"I hate to tell you this, but we have had one of our M-16s stolen," the supervisor emailed program administrators. "What kind of hell is going to be dumped on us?"

The stolen rifle, which was eventually recovered, prompted officials with the state Law Enforcement Support Office to briefly suspend the sheriff's office from the program that offers excess military equipment, vehicles and weapons to local agencies for pennies on the dollar.

Independence County's sheriff's office is one of at least 163 Arkansas agencies that have obtained military weapons, vehicles or equipment through the support office's "1033 program," an exchange program more than 20 years old that transfers "excess" property from the Department of Defense to state and local law enforcement to use in anti-drug or counterterror operations.

Since 2011, 18 Arkansas law enforcement agencies have been temporarily suspended from the program, but only half of those were administrative or procedural suspensions.

The other nine earned suspensions because the military hardware in their possession was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized way.

The program allows eligible law enforcement agencies to acquire an array of surplus military equipment ranging from helicopters, armored vehicles and grenade launchers to office equipment, body armor and night vision devices, as well as rifles.

The program has come under scrutiny nationwide since police officers outfitted in military-style gear and atop armored vehicles confronted citizens in Ferguson, Mo., who were protesting the shooting of an unarmed young black man by a police officer. The shooting remains under investigation.

So far, the surplus program has provided local and regional law enforcement agencies across the nation more than $5 billion in military equipment, according to federal officials. Arkansas law enforcement agencies received more than $34 million in weapons, equipment and vehicles, data show.

Suspension from the program -- for faulty record keeping or improper use of equipment -- freezes an agency's access to any new materials until it executes a remedial "action plan" provided by state officials, according to Law Enforcement Support Office spokesman Deborah Germany.

Most of the agencies suspended for lost or misused property are smaller, rural organizations.

When asked why that was, the program's state manager, James Ray, said it wasn't a matter of size but merely a matter of poor record keeping.

"I wouldn't say that it's limited to just the rural or smaller agencies," Ray said. "It depends on how they track their property, their policies, procedures, and how they're followed."

As of last week, only three Arkansas law enforcement agencies were on suspension and barred from acquiring more materials: the Lawrence County sheriff's office, the Woodruff County sheriff's office and the Judsonia Police Department.

In February, the Woodruff County sheriff's office was suspended after inspectors found that the department had lost three of the five 12-gauge tactical shotguns it acquired through the program.

In Judsonia, a February inspection showed that three of five military shotguns held by that city's Police Department could not be accounted for. Inspectors cited record keeping practices that were "not acceptable," and state officials recommended that the small agency forfeit all of the weapons it acquired through the federal program.

As of Wednesday, the agency still had its shotguns, and Germany did not know why the weapons had not been transferred to another agency.

On Feb. 27, the Lawrence County sheriff's office was suspended after an M14 rifle was stolen and a set of night-vision goggles was destroyed without authorization.

The rifle -- the second weapon that the agency lost since 2013 -- and the destruction of the goggles resulted from a lax "hand receipt method to issue property to officers," according to state officials.

Further details about the lost property from 2013 were not available.

"Since weapons are under perpetual restriction and sensitive in nature and the [sheriff's office has failed to properly control these items ... I recommend any remaining LESO issued weapons be transferred to another [agency]," Ray wrote regarding the Lawrence County sheriff's office. "I also recommend the [law enforcement agency] be suspended for 180 days."

Although the agency was suspended, it kept its 10 M16 rifles, three M14 rifles and four shotguns.

Germany did not know why the weapons were not seized pending the suspension. Calls to the Lawrence County sheriff's office were not returned.

An analysis by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette of memos, emails and forms from the state coordinator's office showed that two rifles and six shotguns have been stolen or simply disappeared since 2012.

Of those, only one was recovered, according to Germany, but Ray said he has not been made aware of any of them ever being used in a crime.

"[If stolen], a police report is filed. The local law enforcement agency is supposed to make every effort to recover the weapons, and sometimes they are recovered," Germany said. "If it goes missing, it goes missing. The law enforcement agency does make every effort to recover those [weapons], but sometimes they're not recoverable."

The suspensions were not limited to lost or stolen weapons.

In Palestine, a St. Francis County town of about 665 people, the Police Department acquired two Humvees in 2012.

This January, one of those vehicles was stolen, and though it was recovered not long after it disappeared, the agency failed to report the theft in a timely manner and was suspended.

According to Germany, the police Humvee was taken out for a joyride, and officers found it after it had been crashed and abandoned.

Several agencies had their access to government equipment frozen after state administrators learned of conduct that didn't follow usage guidelines.

The Stone County sheriff's office was suspended in 2012 after a resident reported seeing one of the agency's Humvees driving off road in a wooded area while on its way to "a party or gathering of some sort" at Dry Creek that was attended by several county employees.

Before being elected sheriff in Lonoke County in 2012, Austin Police Chief John Staley agreed to a 30-day suspension after the former sheriff accused him of using his agency's government Humvee for political campaigning.

In August 2013, inspectors learned that a law enforcement pistol and Humvee issued to the Dell Police Department were both being carried by the town's fire chief and and suspended the Police Department for 90 days.

Dell's new police chief, Charley Bryd, said he wasn't familiar with the circumstances that prompted his agency's suspension under the former chief, but said his tiny town is exactly the reason why the government's program is needed.

"We're under 250 people. I've got Mayberry," Byrd said.

A former officer in Gossland, Byrd said his agency acquired two pistols, two rifles and a Humvee, tools that they couldn't afford without the program.

"[The Humvee] gives us the opportunity to conduct search and rescue. We have a lot of rural areas and have a lot of senior citizens in the city," Byrd said. "If they walk off, it gives us the resources to go search for them."

When asked if towns his size needed military weaponry, Byrd said need is difficult to forecast.

"We've been fortunate" that officers haven't needed to use the military rifles, Byrd said. "But we have a five-lane highway running through the city. If the need arises, we know we have what we need at hand. Hopefully the need will never arise. But it's nice to know it's there."

Metro on 08/25/2014

Upcoming Events