By Anthony Accurso

The incoming Biden administration has promised to work on the issues of inequity in policing and racial inequity. These issues are intertwined and will be mostly complicated to solve.

However, President Biden could start by issuing executive orders limiting or eliminating two current federal programs that are as problematic as they are unpopular.

One such program is the infamous 1033 program of the National Defense Authorization Act. Created in the 1990s when scaremongering about “super predators” was common when discussing policing and crime, this program provides police with excess military hardware like armored vehicles and weapons. This program was restricted under the Obama administration after the 2015 Black-led protests against police violence in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere. The Trump administration reversed course shortly after taking office in 2017.

Congress stepped in during January 2021. Police can no longer acquire from the military grenades, bayonets, weaponized combat vehicles, or weaponized drones.

But, just as critical to addressing over-policing in otherwise underserved communities, is similarly banning police use of military surveillance equipment. Recent history has made it clear that police cannot solve every problem, and more police presence is not an unmitigated good. Surveillance tech in the hands of police can easily lead to ever-present intrusion in our lives worthy of the term “police state.”

Police departments wouldn’t get very far with access to surveillance tech if they didn’t have a reliable funding mechanism like Equitable Sharing to underwrite it.

Federal law enforcement agencies partner with local police and seize property under a process known as civil asset forfeiture. This allows police to “take” property they believe is linked to criminal activity without the burden of proving a crime actually occurred. Equitable Sharing is where local police can apply for a cut of the seized assets, which then is used to pay for things like more surveillance tech.

Between July 2012 and June 2015, the City of San Jose, California, received $569,461 from this program. This kind of funding has proved so controversial that at least three states have banned civil asset forfeiture by state law enforcement.

Biden could use his executive power to end this program and stop police from taking assets from the people who have not necessarily been charged with doing anything wrong. He could similarly limit the 1033 program to prevent police from spying on the public with military surveillance tech. Both actions would be in line with his push to address racialized policing and promote accountability in law enforcement.

Source: eff.org

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