Wisconsin Lawmakers Look To Regulate How Police Use Military Gear

The state would regulate local police departments’ use of military vehicles under a measure that has passed the Legislature’s budget committee.

The plan would require Wisconsin law enforcement agencies to get approval from the state before they acquire weapons and machines from the federal government’s surplus military property program. When police use this equipment, they’d have to explain why, and there’d be policies in place for what happens if they misuse military equipment.

Brookfield Republican Rep. Dale Kooyenga is a veteran of the Iraq War where, he said, soldiers were most effective when they got out of military vehicles and talked to people.

“I think that’s a policing strategy that works the best. I know most of our police follow that strategy,” Kooyenga said. “But I think that we need to be very careful as policy-makers as far as how we are using military equipment in our communities to communicate with the citizens who are 99 percent responsible actors.”

Kooyenga said he understands there are times when police have a use for military vehicles, but he said he has concerns with the militarization of police.

The use of military vehicles and equipment by police has come under more public scrutiny since they were deployed in a standoff with protesters in Ferguson, Missouri last year.

The plan passed on a unanimous vote.