After a police officer shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on Saturday, demonstrators took to the streets to protest.
Police officers, dressed in camouflage uniforms, responded to the scene, riding armored vehicles, clutching semi-automatic rifles and covering the streets with teargas.
The display of force quickly prompted a political debate about the militarization of police departments in America.
On Thursday, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill said that "we need to de-militarize this situation — this kind of response by the police has become the problem instead of the solution."
And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wrote in TIME that "there should be a difference between a police response and a military response."
This is America, not a war zone. The people of #Ferguson just want answers. We all want answers.— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) August 14, 2014
But how did this happen? How did American police departments get all these military gear?
Here are answers to five key questions.
1. How did police departments like the one in Ferguson get so much military gear?
In two words? The "1033 Program."
This federal program was born as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1991. Initially, it allowed police departments to get unused surplus military gear -- leftovers from the Cold War and the first Iraq war -- to be repurposed for war on drugs in the United States. The program was expanded in 1997 to include anti-terrorism missions.
The idea behind the program is simple: cash-strapped local police departments can get advanced military equipment -- for free -- as long as they pay the shipping and maintenance costs. This way, the police saves money, and the military doesn't have to worry about stuff that's old or no longer useful.
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2. Who's in charge of the program?
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), through its Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) is in charge of managing the program. That means determining what material is available, putting out a catalog and processing requests from law enforcement agencies.
On its website, the agency explains the reasoning behind the program: "Every dollar's worth of property reutilized is a tax dollar saved."
3. What have police departments acquired through this program?
All kinds of stuff. From barber chairs and underwear to assault rifles and armored vehicles.
The DLA says that only 5% of the material transferred to police departments from 2006 until May 2014 are weapons, and just 0.35% are tactical vehicles. That, according to data provided to The New York Times in early June, translates to:
432 mine-resistant ambush protected armored vehicles, also known as MRAPs
435 other armored vehicles such as cars and trucks
44,900 night vision equipment such as sights, binoculars, goggles, lights and accessories
533 aircraft, planes and helicopters
93,763 machine guns (5.56 mm) and rifles (7.62 mm)
180,718 magazines (excluding ammunition).
Since 1990, the program has transferred $5.1 billion worth of equipment to police departments across the U.S.
4. Who got all this stuff?
More than 8,000 law enforcement agencies are part of the program, according to LESO.
According to data obtained by Wired in 2012, the top 10 beneficiaries of the program included small agencies such as the Fairmount Police Department, in northern Georgia, which serves a population of 7,000 people, and the police department in Issaquah, Washington, a town of 30,000 people, but also the Los Angeles Sheriff Department and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
Thanks to this program, the 50-officer police department in Oxford, Alabama, a town of 20,000 people, has an arsenal of M-16 machine guns and a Puma armored vehicle; the Nebraska State Patrol has acquired three amphibious eight-wheeled armored vehicles; and the Lebanon Police Department, which serves 30,000 people, has $4 million worth of stuff including armored vehicles, weapons and heavy equipment like bulldozers and truck loaders.
The Ferguson police department, for its part, has recently acquired two Humvees, a 10-kilowatt generator and an empty flatbed trailer. The St. Louis County Police, which has been deployed in Ferguson, have acquired twelve 5.56 millimeter rifles, six .45 caliber pistols, and Humvees, according to USA Today.
5. Do police departments get training to use this equipment?
No.
“It's up to law enforcement agencies to handle all their training requirements,” Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the LESO, told Mashable.
Every agency, however, needs to meet certain criteria to be accepted in the program. And all requests are screened by the law enforcement agency itself, a state program coordinator, and LESO.
Moreover, every state needs to sign an agreement with LESO that sets some requirements like drafting a State Plan of Operation which should include "training and education" procedures for local law-enforcement agencies.
BONUS: Chaotic Scenes From Inside Ferguson