Prompted by the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, this year, a debate has emerged around the so-called "militarization" of law enforcement.
Since 1997 the federal government has been providing local governments nationwide with surplus military equipment, from clothing and air conditioners to weapons and armored vehicles. Maine's congressional delegation supports the program, but believes it's time for some changes in how it operates.
More than $5 billion worth of surplus military equipment has been distributed around the country since 1997, and more than $11 million here in Maine, where local law enforcement agencies received weapons and body armor - and a few even have armored vehicles originally designed to withstand improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those cost about $1 million new.
The surplus program is now under review in Congress. First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree says much of the impetus for calls to end the program stem from the way police in other states have handled riot situations.
"Too much militarization in the police force, and not enough interaction in communities," Pingree says. "We don't see so much of that here in the state of Maine, and frankly, many small communities departments have been able to benefit when they are on tight budgets."
Pingree says it's likely the issue will be thoroughly reviewed in the new Congress.
Fellow Democrat Mike Michaud, who is leaving Congress this year, supports a review of the program. But he says he will not second guess local communities on what they need to equip their police departments.
"I am not in the position to say what different communities around the country are facing," Michaud says, "and I would have to leave that up to the local law enforcement and state law enforcement officials."
Republican Sen. Susan Collins says her own review of how Maine communities have used the surplus program has not revealed any abuses. In fact, she says it appears to have helped out several financially-strapped agencies. She says local police are often under-equipped when dealing with drug gangs or other heavily-armed criminals.
"If ISIS, the terrorist group mounts another 9-11 here, I want our police departments to have the weapons they need to respond," Collins says.
Collins says it's appropriate that Congress review the program and consider changes to assure that equipment is actually being used as intended.
Sen. Angus King, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, says the law has been discussed by the panel and will be among the issues it will likely tackle in the new Congress. Among the possible changes to be considered, he says, would be a training component.
"Law enforcement is something that is training intensive," King says. "And I think that is probably one of the problems we have seen. If you give a guy some very dangerous piece of equipment without the training to use it, the bad things can happen."
President Obama is expected to issue an executive order that would provide more oversight of the distribution of military surplus equipment to police, both by the military and through grants from the Department of Homeland Security. A statement from the White House also said the order would also seek to improve training and would require that reports be filed after incidents involving federal equipment.
