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Local police forces are getting battlefield-grade weaponry — including grenade launchers, M-16 assault rifles and helicopters — thanks to a little-known Defense Department program. Why do cops in Cobb County, Ga. need an amphibious tank?

The Department of Defense gave away nearly $500 million worth of leftover military gear to law enforcement in fiscal year 2011 — a new record for the program and a dramatic rise over past years’ totals…
And the program’s recent expansion shows no sign of slackening: Orders in fiscal year 2012 are up 400 percent over the same period in 2011, according to data provided to The Daily by the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency.

Local police forces are getting battlefield-grade weaponry — including grenade launchers, M-16 assault rifles and helicopters — thanks to a little-known Defense Department program. Why do cops in Cobb County, Ga. need an amphibious tank?

The Department of Defense gave away nearly $500 million worth of leftover military gear to law enforcement in fiscal year 2011 — a new record for the program and a dramatic rise over past years’ totals…

And the program’s recent expansion shows no sign of slackening: Orders in fiscal year 2012 are up 400 percent over the same period in 2011, according to data provided to The Daily by the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency.

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