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.