The Pentagon is giving weapons to campus security at many universities, too
Campus police at more than 100 colleges and universities are taking advantage of the Pentagon's 1033 program, which gives surplus military equipment and weapons to local police departments.
For example, last year the Ohio State University acquired a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicle — a vehicle designed to withstand IED attacks and looks to the civilian eye like a cross between a tank and a Humvee — for campus use. When questioned, the university repeatedly avoided explaining why an MRAP was needed by campus security.
OSU is not alone in militarizing campus police. The University of Maryland, Morgan State University, and Coppin State University received assault rifles, "riot type" shotguns, and armored vehicles from the 1033 program. Florida State has an Army Humvee, and Florida International University has military rifles.
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View the full list of police departments, including campus police, which have participated in the 1033 program here.
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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