Mar 21, 2023
TIL: since 1997 the DoD’s Law Enforcement Support Organization (LESO) has been providing military equipment to State and Municipal Police Departments. And up until 2015 that equipment included: - Tracked Armored Vehicles (aka, Tanks) - Grenade Launchers (!!!) - Bayonets WTF America? Thankfully, under President Obama those items were removed from the police. However, Under Trump (of course) the rules were repealed. No word on how much of that military equipment police got their hands on again. The good news is last year Biden put those restrictions back in place. But chances are some police departments still have this type of military gear sitting around the station.