The Salt Lake City Council says it's considering an ordinance that would limit its police department’s access to decommissioned military equipment.
A provision in the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act makes it easy for police departments nationwide to ask for surplus military equipment from the federal government, including office furniture, vehicles and weapons. The provision allows for the Secretary of Defense to send decommissioned items to domestic law enforcement agencies on request, usually for free. The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that city lawmakers are considering a draft measure presented Tuesday that would ban the police from using city funds to acquire drones, combat aircraft, grenades, grenade launchers, military-grade weapons, silencers and armored vehicles.