A new law includes a provision to provide more accountability on the sale of military equipment to local police departments nationwide.
The provision was written by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), according to a press release from his office. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed by President Joe Biden last month.
"In order to demilitarize the police, the public must know which police departments are getting military equipment and what kinds of weapons they are buying," Schatz said in the press release. "Our new law will finally provide some transparency and accountability to the military weapons purchase program."
A current Department of Defense (DoD) program – the 1122 program – allows law enforcement agencies to buy military equipment without any public disclosures on purchases, the press release noted. The provision authored by Schatz requires DoD and the General Services Administration to submit an annual report to Congress about equipment sold to state and local law enforcement agencies as part of the 1122 program.
Schatz continues to work to reform the criminal justice system and demilitarize the police, according to the press release. He prompted a series of votes on amendments to the NDAA in 2020 to update the 1033 program. That action helped enact a ban on the transfer of certain military weapons to state and local law enforcement agencies. Schatz in February headed a group of senators who asked Biden to step up efforts to demilitarize the police. The group cited reports which showed that police militarization "fails to reduce rates of violent crime or change the number of officers assaulted or killed."