Castoff Military Equipment Finds Home in Lewis County

When asked if the Centralia police department has surplus gear from the U.S. military, Chief Bob Berg answers without hesitation.

“Without apology,” he adds.

Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield has a similar reaction.

“We’ve been the recipient of surplus military equipment and gear for years,” the sheriff said. “It’s been very beneficial.”

Local police accepting the equipment is not a sign of a militarized police force, the sheriff said, it’s a good financial decision.

“There are people out there who think this is some sort of plan for conspiracy or military takeover,” Mansfield said. “I just want to assure people I am not a part of the military.”

Police owning the gear is nothing new. Centralia police, along with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, have been recipients of weapons, vehicles and other resources for nearly two decades.

The federal government buys the equipment, uses it, and when they no longer need it, they give it to local police forces — often for free.

Despite the longevity of the program, it has come under public scrutiny in the past week in the clashes between residents and police, many decked in military-grade equipment, in Ferguson, Missouri, where the fatal shooting of an unarmed African American teenager has sparked protests and riots.

In the days after the death of Michael Brown, the countless video images were subsequently published worldwide, showing well-armed police confronting protesters and sparking a national debate.

"There is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement, and we don't want those lines blurred," President Barack Obama told reporters at the White House on Monday. "That would be contrary to our traditions."

Amid calls on a national level for reconsideration on how military-surplus gear is used and distributed to police, on a local level, Lewis County’s top law enforcement officers say the equipment, if used appropriately, can be crucial in saving lives of both civilians and officers.

The free garb and machinery, which otherwise could not be afforded by Centralia police and the sheriff’s office, has been used in numerous training and tactical situations, in addition to rescue operations, throughout the past several years.

While the gear includes rifles, combat helmets, scopes, and night-vision binoculars, the large majority of the equipment is more benign items such as lockers, backpacks, first-aid kits, computer monitors and snowshoes.

Both agencies have also received numerous vehicles throughout the years, many of which were heavily relied on by first responders during the 2007 floods and other rescue-type situations.

Of the half-dozen military vehicles Centralia police now own, the most visually shocking is their newly acquired Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, also known as an MRAP. The department obtained the massive armored vehicle earlier this year.

Centralia’s MRAP, now painted black and bearing the department’s logo, is nearly 14-feet tall, complete with a turret on its top. It’s so big, it barely fits into the storage garage they keep it in.

In Centralia, Berg said officers will use the vehicle in select circumstances, such as active shooters or a high-risk SWAT operation.

The vehicle will also be used if the area floods again, as the high clearance will allow officers to travel to water-logged areas, the chief said.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office also has a MRAP. Their enormous vehicle, which is painted the same shade of green as a John Deere tractor, looks likes something out of the “Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Lewis County Sgt. Rob Snaza said they got the MRAP earlier this year and have not yet used it, though they will likely also use it for flooding and SWAT operations.

The sheriff’s office’s MRAP, similar to Centralia’s, was manufactured in 2012, weighs 48,300 pounds and can travel up to 60 mph, said Jeremy Almond, a deputy with the sheriff’s office.

It can also fit 10 people “comfortably” inside, he said.

Both Mansfield and Berg said they chose those vehicles to replace their respective agency’s older armored vehicles, which were both also obtained via military surplus about two decades prior.

But there is a stark difference between the older-model armored vehicles and the new MRAPs. The MRAPs are substantially bigger and arguably more intimidating.

Berg said he recognizes the drastic contrast in size between their new vehicle and their old one, and he realizes that people may react differently when they see an MRAP driving down the street. 

“There is absolutely a big difference in its appearance,” Berg said.

He also said he is aware that deploying an MRAP in a tactical situation may provoke a different reaction than their previous vehicle.

Berg said the department intends to use the MRAP in a very limited set of circumstances and never as a crowd-control tactic, like police did during the Ferguson protests.

If money was not an issue, and the department had the funds to purchase their own armored rescue vehicle, Berg said, they would not purchase an MRAP.

“We’d buy something lower profile and more tailored to the police department needs,” Berg said.

Since their options are limited by their budget, an MRAP was appealing because it was free and met their expectations, he said.

One of the most important considerations when looking at armored vehicles is officer safety, Berg added. The MRAP is by far the safest vehicle for officers to travel in when handling situations involving an active shooter.

While the county’s two largest agencies have welcomed a large amount of various military gear, the Chehalis police department has obtained minimal equipment through the program.

“We haven’t really seen the need for it,” Chehalis Chief Glenn Schaffer said. “We also have limited places to store things like that.”

“When it comes down to tactical operations, if those resources were ever needed, we can share them with the other agencies,” Schaffer added.

•••

The Associated Press contributed to this report.