President Obama is
set to announce a ban on the provision of certain kinds of military equipment to local law enforcement, and restrictions on the availability of others. The decision to restrict weapons comes out of the recommendations of the task force Obama created in January to examine increasing tensions and conflicts between law enforcement and communities like Ferguson and Baltimore.
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. […]
The report from the task force on military equipment cited the police response to the Ferguson unrest as an example of how the "militarization" of police departments can lead to fear and mistrust. In addition to prohibiting some equipment outright, officials said, Mr. Obama accepted the group's recommendation to impose new restrictions on other military-style items, such as wheeled armored vehicles, pyrotechnics, battering rams and riot gear, and more stringent requirements for training and information collection for departments that acquire them.
"The idea is to make sure that we strike a balance in providing the equipment, which is appropriate and useful and important for local law enforcement agencies to keep the community safe, while at the same time putting standards in place," said Cecilia Muñoz, the director of Mr. Obama's Domestic Policy Council.
In addition to the restrictions on equipment, which Obama can accomplish through executive action, the report includes recommendations for police forces for changing practices and procedures. He can't enforce those recommendations, but he can encourage them. The administration is providing $163 million in grants to police departments to encourage them to adopt the recommendations.
There's ongoing discussion in LieparDestin's diary.