U.S. Dept. of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Interagency – Law Enforcement Equipment Working Group Briefing
Manny Ovalle, Director at Large, represented HAPCOA on July 8, 2015 to discuss recommendations pursuant to Pres. Obama’s Executive Order 13688: Federal Support for Local Law Enforcement Equipment Acquisition.
The Working Group, on an ongoing basis, will evaluate all suggestions and/or recommendations relating to the President’s Executive Order.
SPECIFIC ISSUES DISCUSSED:
1. Possible Recall of Prohibitive Equipment
- Tabled until next meeting.
2. Breadth of Controlled Equipment List
- Working Group agreed that the list of the controlled equipment lists must be expanded.
3. General Policing and Specific Controlled Equipment Standards Guidance
- Tabled until next meeting.
4. Training Requirements
- It was suggested that LEAs train on their own policies.
5. Significant Incident Reports for Non-Federally Acquired Controlled Equipment
- There were some philosophical differences among the members of the Working Group (i.e., a few LEAs wanted to keep their incident reports in-house; the federal providers wanted to know how and why the non-federally controlled equipment was used).
6. Local Civilian Government Review
- Offered as a means for LEAs to communicate with their communities. Police civilian academies is one example of government review and education.
PLANS FOR FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS
- The Working Group will conduct annual reviews.
- Federal government agencies not included in Executive Order 13688 have adopted policies that are similar to the LE Working Group.
- LE officers at the street level want to be heard.
- Citizens need protection and education on understanding the use of LEA controlled equipment in their communities.
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