The Arizona Republic has reported that the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office “has collected millions of dollars’ worth of surplus military equipment that is intended for law-enforcement use and distributed some of the gear to non-police agencies while preparing to sell other property as a budget booster” in what appars to be a violation of federal regulations.
According to the Arizona Republic, “in the past two years, Sheriff Paul Babeu’s office has received more than $7 million worth of Humvees, fire trucks, guns, defibrillators, barber chairs, underwear, thermal-imaging scopes, computers, motor scooters and other items through the Defense Logistics Agency, which provides the excess military property free to crime-fighting agencies.”
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has boasted of being fiscally conservative and having a balanced budget. However, Babeu told Pinal County supervisors in March, that he intends to balance his budget in part by auctioning equipment procured from the military, according to the Arizona Republic.
That surplus equipment is to be used exclusively for law-enforcement purposes.
Babeu defended the program saying military supplies reduce the burden on taxpayers, ignoring the fact that with better planning, the taxpayers would not have had to pay for them initially.
To read the Arizona republic’s article click here.