Military surplus bonanza transforms Tennessee police work

• Tennessee authorities got %2493 million in goods in 2012 and 2013.
• Nashville-area agencies got 10 mine-resistant vehicles%2C 300 assault rifles%2C and helicopters.
• Local and state authorities defend the equipment as crucial to policework.
• Like in Ferguson%2C Mo.%2C police across Tennessee receive military surplus gear.

Nashville police don't want to be compared to the authorities in Ferguson, Mo., where images of their heavily armed clashes with protesters stirred national passions and have hummed across TV screens for two weeks' running.

But they do have similar firepower.

That's thanks in part to a program that sends surplus U.S. military gear to local agencies for free — armored vehicles and assault rifles included.

Despite a mounting call for accountability of high-powered police tools nationwide, Metro police spokeswoman Kris Mumford bristled this week at being questioned about the department's capabilities.

"It's difficult to imagine a response similar here in Nashville," Mumford said. "We're a transparent, community-involved police department."

Metro police wouldn't withhold the name of an officer involved in a fatal shooting, she said. And local protesters would never see Metro's armored Bearcat vehicle rolling up on a demonstration, as police did in Ferguson — because that's not why the department bought one, she said.

Yet there's little to hold police to such a promise after a decade of boosting their firepower, thanks to the federal government.

Two federal programs have fueled a revolution in local policing, putting equipment worth more than $321 million into the hands of Tennessee authorities since 1993. More has arrived recently, as the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has made more military gear available through the national Law Enforcement Support Office.

The wave hit Tennessee last year, when agencies across the state got almost $30 million in equipment — tripling the previous year's haul. This year, the amount doubled again, and Tennessee pulled in equipment worth $63 million, according to state records.

Those big gains have ranked Tennessee among the top 10 military surplus states in recent years.

Amid the bonanza for Nashville and bordering counties: 10 mine-resistant trucks and four other armored vehicles, more than 300 assault rifles and a smattering of helicopters, boats, trucks and tractors.

Across the state, some 41,000 items, ranging from the high-tech and the lethal to the peculiar, have padded police inventories. Unicoi County got enough brass instruments to start a marching band — two saxophones, a flugelhorn, four sousaphones and more — while neighboring Washington County got the state's single priciest item, a $5 million communications system.

Putting military might into the hands of police raises some alarms for experts such as Eugene O'Donnell, a former New York City police officer and prosecutor and a law and police studies professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

"I would give all the cautionary notes. I would give all the reservations," he said. "It's obviously going to be a very difficult issue to navigate through.

"But I think most Americans don't necessarily mind supportive-type equipment, like helicopters. Defensive stuff, I think, may not look good, but there's probably a case for some of this armor to be worn."

Metro police defend upgrades

The Metro Nashville Police Department has collected more than $1.3 million in surplus military gear since 1992. It spent an additional $15 million in federal Department of Homeland Security grants to buy more.

The military surplus program alone gave the department three dozen rifles, five helicopters, two boats and a $323,000 tank-like armored personnel carrier, state records show.

Mumford said it's all crucial.

The rifles?

"That's SWAT," she said, referring to police teams trained and equipped to deal with high-risk situations.

She said the department uses two dozen of its aging M-14 rifles only for drills and ceremonies. And the helicopters — which aren't weaponized — make pursuits and searches safer, she said.

The surplus boats made dozens of rescues during the 2010 flood and have been celebrated, not second-guessed.

And Mumford said the department's $89,000 Bearcat — purchased with grant money, not obtained free from the military — is a necessary shield for officers facing armed threats.

"I guess the citizens will decide whether those are good tools for the police department to have."

Bulletproof

Despite the size of its police force, Nashville wasn't the Midstate leader in securing military goods.

Lebanon police received more than twice as much: 1,249 items worth $3.2 million, according to state data.

Lebanon was one of 10 Nashville-area agencies to receive a mine-resistant vehicle. Police in Gallatin and Hendersonville each got one last summer. Local leaders there said the bulletproof vehicles promised a big change, especially for tense and armed situations in an area where gun ownership is common.

The upgrade allows law enforcement to leave behind an aging and makeshift military ambulance — or dependence on Nashville's armored vehicle for backup — during the dozen or so SWAT calls in Gallatin each year.

Monitoring those SWAT calls, and how police use their high-powered equipment, could build public trust, O'Donnell said, but he wasn't sure that would happen.

"I don't know if (the military) can hand this stuff out and micromanage it."

Free-for-all

The two federal programs propelling police militarization have essentially switched places in the past decade.

In 2003, two years after terrorism sparked a nationwide call to arms, Homeland Security grants led the way, bringing more than $43 million that year to Tennessee agencies, plus a flood of high-tech, game-changing gear.

Bomb squads and water rescue teams made major advances. Emergency response leaders throughout the region seized what they could each year, gearing up in a big way, although some technologies never were put to use.

By 2012, a Tennessean analysis of 10,000 purchases showed how a steep drop in grant money left localities on the hook to pay for upkeep of what they'd received. In the past two years, the grants ticked back up slightly.

"The money that has come to Tennessee the past two years has gone to maintaining and sustaining the materials that came to Tennessee," said Rick Shipkowski, Tennessee deputy Homeland Security adviser.

"Some counties are getting less than $5,000 per year. There's not a whole lot you can do with that."

But at the same time, the military surplus program ramped up — effectively cutting out the middleman. Locals would no longer need to seek money and then spend it.

Instead, they browse a military surplus website and look over equipment at repositories such as Fort Campbell and the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala.

Departments make specific requests, get state and federal approval, and cover the costs of shipping or transportation.

Expert acquirer

Tennessee agencies have gotten especially good at landing what they want, thanks in large part to the expertise of Elbert Baker, the state's surplus program coordinator. Knowing how and when items become available is something of an art that Baker has learned in his nine years helping local police. During that time, Tennessee moved from 47th in the nation to the top 10 in military surplus.

"We've studied, we learned and we worked," Baker said. "We've gone from the bottom tier to one of the premier programs in the nation."

As departments learned how to tap into the system, waiting lists developed for coveted items, including armored vehicles. There are 31 mine-resistant trucks in the state. Baker stresses those are to be used defensively.

"Hopefully you'll never need it," he said.

In Nashville's case, officials avoided the wait for military surplus and used grant money to buy an armored Bearcat in 2009.

The past two years, police rolled it out 167 times, Mumford said, including for 87 barricade, hostage or high-risk search warrant situations. The other 80 were community events.

She said the Bearcat won't appear at protests. But it's also not going away, regardless of the sinister stance that some armored vehicles have taken in Ferguson.

There's no plan to phase it out, Mumford said.

"We need it."

Reach Tony Gonzalez at 615-259-8089 or on Twitter @tgonzalez.

Big-ticket military gifts

There were 40 items worth at least $100,000 that the U.S. military gave to police in Nashville and surrounding counties. Common high-dollar technologies include:

• Helicopters valued between $190,000 and $922,704

• Mine-resistant vehicles typically valued at $733,000

• Trucks, tractors and trailers ranging from $110,000 to $331,680

• Boats worth $210,000

• Remote-controlled bomb squad robots worth $177,147

Military surplus bonanza in Middle Tennessee

In Nashville and bordering counties, seven police agencies have received at least $1 million in surplus military goods. Here are the top five, with a glance at some of the items received for free.

1. Lebanon Police: $3.2 million

Lebanon received 1,249 items, including four assault rifles, nine trucks, several scooters and two armored vehicles.

2. Wilson County Sheriff: $1.7 million

Wilson County also received an armored car and a mine-resistant vehicle. Among the county's 52 items received were two boats and 15 assault rifles.

3. Hendersonville Police: $1.4 million

Hendersonville took in 256 surplus items, including 58 assault rifles, two trucks, two armored vehicles and more than 70 computers,

4. Nashville Police: $1.3 million

Nashville received five helicopters, two rescue boats and 37 assault rifles among 129 total items.

5. Ashland City Police: $1.2 million

Ashland City received six trucks, two tractors, three boats and three assault rifles.

Tennessee's leading recipients

Since 1993, Tennessee police agencies have received more than 41,000 military surplus items worth at least $121 million, according to Department of General Services data. Here are the five agencies that got the most from the military.

1. Washington County Sheriff: $9.7 million

2. Loudon County Sheriff: $8.1 million

3. Livingston Police: $4.5 million

4. Parsons Police: 4.2 million

5. Coffee County Sheriff: $3.8 million

Source: Tennessee Department of General Services

Military rifles in Middle Tennessee

More than 300 M-14s and M-16s have been distributed to agencies through the surplus program, including some that date back to the Korean War.

Columbia: 28

Dickson: 24

Franklin: 11

Gallatin: 10

Hendersonville: 58

Lebanon: 4

Mount Pleasant: 5

Murfreesboro: 15

Nashville: 37

Nashville International Airport: 8

Pleasant View: 1

Portland: 12

Rutherford: 21

Smyrna: 8

Sumner: 14

TWRA: 269

Westmoreland: 6

White Bluff: 2

Williamson: 55

Wilson: 15

Bulletproof power

Mine-resistant and other armored vehicles were given to local authorities in Dickson, Gallatin, Hendersonville, La Vergne, Lebanon, Montgomery County, Murfreesboro, Nashville, the Nashville International Airport and Williamson and Wilson counties.

A military band in the making

When the military cleans house, all sorts of gear becomes available. State data show that the Unicoi County Sheriff's Department received a clarinet, a cornet, a flugelhorn, an electric guitar, a Precision bass, two saxophones, four sousaphones and three trumpets.