Florida Senate - 2015 SM 1152
By Senator Bullard
39-01076-15 20151152__
1 Senate Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3 urging Congress to review the eligibility criteria for
4 participation in the Department of Defense Excess
5 Property Program, also known as the “1033 program,”
6 and to adopt reforms that preclude participation in
7 the program by law enforcement agencies that have
8 cases pending before the United States Department of
9 Justice involving racial profiling or police
10 brutality.
11
12 WHEREAS, the Department of Defense Excess Property Program,
13 also known as the “1033 program,” was enacted in 1990 as part of
14 the National Defense Authorization Act and was originally
15 intended to transfer excess personal property from the
16 department to federal and state agencies for drug-related
17 enforcement activities, and
18 WHEREAS, the 1033 program was subsequently expanded to
19 authorize all law enforcement agencies to acquire property for
20 bona fide law enforcement purposes that assist in their
21 apprehension and arrest mission, with preference given to
22 counter-drug and counter-terrorism requests, and
23 WHEREAS, about 8,000 local law enforcement agencies
24 participate in the 1033 program, with $5.1 billion in military
25 hardware transferred from the Department of Defense to those
26 agencies from the inception of the program to 2014, and
27 WHEREAS, it is essential that all law enforcement agencies
28 in this state be properly equipped to protect the public
29 welfare, and it is recognized that the 1033 program assists
30 smaller police departments in gaining access to supplies that
31 larger police departments are usually able to afford without
32 federal assistance, and
33 WHEREAS, despite the best intentions of Congress in
34 creating the 1033 program, it has, in some areas of this
35 country, placed military equipment intended for use on the
36 battlefield in the hands of agencies with a history of
37 adversarial relationships with minority communities, creating
38 mistrust and fear on the part of residents who decry the
39 “militarization” of the law enforcement community, and
40 WHEREAS, the most recognized and effective law enforcement
41 agencies in our nation are built on a deep relationship of trust
42 between the men and women in blue and the people they are sworn
43 to protect and defend, and
44 WHEREAS, it is essential that law enforcement agencies
45 demonstrate a commitment to building strong relationships with
46 members of the community before being approved for participation
47 in the 1033 program, and
48 WHEREAS, law enforcement agencies that are the subject of
49 cases pending before the United States Department of Justice
50 involving racial profiling or police brutality should be
51 excluded from participation in the 1033 program until these
52 cases are resolved, NOW, THEREFORE,
53
54 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
55
56 That we urge the Congress of the United States to review
57 the eligibility criteria for participation in the Department of
58 Defense Excess Property Program, also known as the “1033
59 program,” and to adopt reforms that preclude participation in
60 that program by law enforcement agencies that have cases pending
61 before the United States Department of Justice involving racial
62 profiling or police brutality.
63 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
64 dispatched to the President of the United States, the President
65 of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of
66 Representatives, and each member of the Florida delegation to
67 the United States Congress.