Local Campus Police Continue Receiving Surplus Military Gear

The national debate about militarized police forces continues as awareness grows about local campus police acquiring surplus military gear. The Indianapolis Star reports that Indiana University is one of at least five campus police departments that have received surplus military gear in the last four years. Surplus gear can include body armor, military vehicles and M-14 or M-16 rifles. Recent incidents of lone assailants creating public massacres using high-powered weaponry have raised concerns about police and campus resources. Yet after the much-publicized shooting of 18-year old Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri police, lawmakers held congressional hearings last week on the subject. Claire McGaskill, Democratic Senator from Missouri, called for limits to programs that supply police with military equipment. According to records obtained at the IU Department of Administration, Bloomington campus police have received six M-16 rifles as well as helmets and bullet-proof vests. Officer Jerry Minger, who oversees seven campus police departments at Indiana University, says the rifles have been modified so they are not fully automatic. He claims they are appropriate for campus police force use. Minger is quoted in the star saying “Police departments are typically not warriors, they’re typically guardians of a community. How do you protect the community if you don’t have the appropriate equipment to do so?” Herb Terry, former president of the Indiana University Faculty Council, says he trusts the IU campus police will use discretion with the armament and suggested the thing to monitor might be the people wielding the weapons, not the weapons themselves, saying he does not believe the IU police department is over-militarized.