The White House released a statement today outlining restrictions on the federal government’s distribution of weapons, vehicles, and other equipment to police departments.
Newly prohibited equipment includes bayonets, grenade launchers, firearms of .50 caliber or higher, weaponized vehicles, and “vehicles that … utilize a tracked system instead of wheels for forward motion” (i.e. tanks).
These prohibitions are part of President Obama’s ongoing response to what many citizens saw as an unnecessary show of force by police departments in Ferguson and Baltimore. The New York Times reports:
The ban is part of Mr. Obama’s push to ease tensions between law enforcement and minority communities in reaction to the crises in Baltimore; Ferguson, Mo.; and other cities.
He is taking the action after a task force he created in January decided that police departments should be barred from using federal funds to acquire items that include tracked armored vehicles, the highest-caliber firearms and ammunition, and camouflage uniforms. The ban is part of a series of steps the president has made to try to build trust between law enforcement organizations and the citizens they are charged with protecting.
President Obama plans to announce these changes and other administrative initiatives during a visit to Camden N.J., where he will highlight that community’s recent efforts to implement better community-police relations.
Read more at the New York Times.
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