1033 Program,”2 As It Is Sometimes Called, the LESO Branch of the DLA Can Give Leas Excess Dod Property at Little Or No Cost
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An Evaluation of the Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program Law Enforcement Agency Equipment Acquisition Policies, Findings, and Options Aaron C. Davenport, Jonathan William Welburn, Andrew Lauland, Annelise Pietenpol, Marc Robbins, Erin Rebhan, Patricia Boren, K. Jack Riley C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2464 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0071-0 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2018 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover image by Florence County North Carolina Sheriff's Department. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. 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Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface Section 1048 of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requires an evaluation of the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) program, which is run by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and provides excess Department of Defense (DoD) equipment—everything from printers to rifles to airplanes—to state and fed- eral law enforcement agencies (LEAs). The NDAA requires DoD to select a federally funded research and development center to review the program. RAND’s National Defense Research Institute (NDRI) was asked to undertake that review, documented in this report. This evaluation builds upon previous work RAND researchers com- pleted for DoD in 2016, in accordance with the fiscal year (FY) 2017 NDAA mandate for additional analysis of the LESO program. This research was sponsored by the Defense Logistics Agency and conducted within the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant- Com mands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. For more information on the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center, see www.rand.org/nsrd/ndri/centers/atp or contact the director (contact information is provided on the webpage). iii Contents Preface ................................................................................................. iii Figures .................................................................................................vii Tables and Lists ...................................................................................... ix Summary .............................................................................................. xi Acknowledgments ................................................................................ xxiii Abbreviations ....................................................................................... xxv CHAPTER ONE Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 History of the LESO Program ....................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO Excess Property and LESO Program Processes ................................................19 DoD Excess Property Transfer and Disposal Time Line .........................................19 State Coordinators ....................................................................................21 Registration Process .................................................................................. 22 Reviews of Equipment Requests ................................................................... 22 Equipment Deliveries and Training ............................................................... 23 Equipment Transfers and Losses ................................................................... 24 Compliance Reviews ................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER THREE Transfers, Losses, Suspensions, Terminations, and Rebuys ................................ 27 Types of Equipment Transferred and to Whom ................................................. 27 Losses, Suspensions, and Terminations ............................................................ 36 Rebuys of Excess Equipment ........................................................................39 CHAPTER FOUR Stakeholder Interviews .............................................................................41 State Coordinators and State Points of Contact ...................................................41 Officials from Participating Law Enforcement Agencies .........................................47 Representatives from National Organizations .....................................................53 v vi An Evaluation of the Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program CHAPTER FIVE Public Perceptions ...................................................................................55 CHAPTER SIX Optional Paths Ahead ..............................................................................63 Maintain the Status Quo .............................................................................63 Modify Program Emphasis and Distribution of Controlled Equipment ...................... 64 Shift Responsibility for Controlled Equipment to Another Organization .....................65 APPENDIXES A. Executive Order 13688 ..........................................................................69 B. Executive Order 13809 ..........................................................................73 C. Standardized Interview Protocol for State Coordinators and State POCs ............75 D. Standardized Interview Protocol for LEA Officials .......................................79 References .............................................................................................83 Figures 1.1. LESO Time Line ......................................................................... 3 2.1. DoD’s Item Disposal Process .......................................................... 20 3.1. Distribution of Property (and Value) Distributed to State, Federal, and Tribal LEAs, FY 2015–2017.......................................................35 3.2. Controlled Property Transfers by State, FY 2015–2017 ............................ 36 3.3. Map of Total LEA Suspensions by State, FY 2014–2016 ...........................37 5.1. Overall, How Satisfied Are You with the Quality of Police Services in Your Neighborhood? ................................................................... 56 5.2. Do You Perceive Your Local Police/Law Enforcement Agency to Be Adequately Equipped? .................................................................. 56 5.3. Are You Aware of Federal Programs That Provide Excess Military Equipment to Police/Law Enforcement Agencies? ...................................57 5.4. Should Types of Equipment Transferred to LEAs Be Limited? ....................58 5.5. Program Support Responses by Respondent Age ....................................59 5.6. Program Support Responses by Respondent Race ...................................59 5.7. Program Restriction Responses by Respondent Age ............................... 60 5.8. Program Restriction Responses by Respondent Race ...............................61 vii Tables and Lists Tables 3.1. Current Property Held by LEAs: Quantity and Value, by Class (FY 2016 dollars) .........................................................................29 3.2. Current Property Held by LEAs: Top 20, by Value (FY 2016 dollars, DoD purchase price) ................................................................... 30 3.3. Current Property Held by LEAs: Top 20, by Quantity (FY 2016 dollars)........31 3.4. Current Uncontrolled Property Held by LEAs: Top 20, by Quantity (FY 2016 dollars) .........................................................................32 3.5. Current Controlled Property Held by LEAs: Top 20, by Quantity (FY 2016 dollars) .........................................................................33 3.6. Participation by LEA Size, as of FY 2016 ............................................ 34 3.7. Size Distribution of LEAs Receiving MRAPs, as of FY 2016 ..................... 34 3.8. LESO Justification for Suspensions, FY 2014–2016 ................................ 38 3.9. Total LEA Terminations by State, FY 2014–2016 .................................. 38 3.10. LESO Justification for Terminations, FY 2014–2016 ...............................39 4.1. Costs and Benefits of LESO Program Among Surveyed LEAs ....................53 Lists 3.1. EO 13688 Prohibited Equipment .................................................... 28 3.2. EO 13688 Controlled