Miss. campuses get military weapons

One hundred state and local law enforcement agencies in Mississippi collectively own 1,354 military-grade items, including two grenade launchers and one mine-resistant-ambush-protected-armored truck that officials say they need to keep the peace.

Most of it belongs to agencies like the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and Jackson Police Department, both of which habitually confront dangerous criminals, but some of the most powerful weapons sit on college campuses.

Hinds Community College, Holmes Community College and Mississippi State University each received several M16 rifles. Hinds also obtained a grenade launcher.

The weapons came through the Department of Defense's Law Enforcement Support Office program. Also called as the 1033 program, it has offered surplus military equipment to law enforcement since 1997.

Data obtained by The Clarion-Ledger show that Mississippi agencies currently have nearly $4.2 million worth of that equipment in their inventories right now, including nearly $4,700 of it on college campuses.

See the full list of items here.

Mississippi residents largely responded to news of such weapons on college campuses with either gratitude or fear, echoing the sentiments of people throughout the country in what has become a national debate on whether military-style weapons belong in civilian police departments or college campuses.

"I've got one going to college next year, and the thought of M16s on campus terrifies me," said Paula Bailey Whitaker of Oxford. "Fraternity parties, crazy college kids and grenade launchers don't mix."

But Amy Denise Elmore Giorgenti of Tupelo says she would feel more comfortable knowing campus police had military-grade weapons to protect students, especially in light of the mass shootings sadly common to colleges these days.

"When my kids go to college in eight years or so, I hope they have a campus SWAT team," she said. "A Taser and a stun gun just don't cut it anymore."

Buck Cooper of Jackson disagreed: "On a college campus? It's more likely to be used to suppress free speech than it is to stop an active shooter."

Colleges returning their weapons

MSU Police got five M16A1 rifles similar to those used during jungle warfare in Vietnam and originally valued at $499 each. University spokesman Sid Salter said the rifles have been modified to work only in semi-automatic mode and are already in the process of being returned to the Department of Defense.

Holmes Community College Police got four M16 rifles but opted for the less expensive kind originally valued at $120 each. The Clarion-Ledger could not reach anybody authorized to speak about the weapons at Holmes.

Hinds Community College not only got two expensive M16A1 rifles, but it also obtained one M79 grenade launcher originally valued at $720. Introduced during the Vietnam War, the M79 resembles a sawed-off shotgun and can fire not only grenades, but smoke, tear gas and flares.

In a statement issued Thursday, Hinds Community College said the items were obtained under a previous campus police chief in 1998 and will be declared surplus by the college upon approval of the Board of Trustees and disposed of through the proper channels.

The former chief, Larry Coleman, said in the statement that he used the M16s for training purposes only and that they otherwise remained locked in the campus police office. The grenade launcher, he said, was not intended for explosives; it was for smoke or tear gas.

"But we were never able to locate canisters that would fit it," he said.

In addition to the weapons, Coleman said, he also was able to obtain cots and ready-to-eat meals through the Department of Defense program.

"It was low-cost equipment and gave us the ability to train our officers," said Larry Coleman, former police chief at the college's Raymond campus. "Our goal was to have a well-trained campus police force, with certified officers ready to respond in an emergency situation."

Coleman retired in 2003, but since then, the college has continued to rely on the surplus program, said president Clyde Muse.

"Over the years there has been a lot of surplus equipment," Muse said. "It ranges all the way to automobiles to pickup trucks to bulldozers and so on. It's been a very helpful thing for us."

Obama orders review

Among the other non-weapon military-grade items obtained by law-enforcement agencies in Mississippi through the 1033 program are utility trucks, helicopters, wet-weather ponchos, backpacks, sleeping bags, and survival axes.

Despite the assurances of those who say the equipment helps them do a better job, President Barack Obama last month ordered a review of the federal program. His actions followed weeks of public outcry over the militarized police response to protests in Ferguson, Missouri.

Since then, media outlets have scrutinized the necessity of its sending more than $5.1 billion worth of equipment since 1997 to agencies nationwide, including school districts and college campuses.

But the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, which calls itself the leading authority for campus public safety, defends the program and the ways in which colleges and universities have used the equipment.

"These items have unquestionably improved the safety of our campus police departments' personnel, and ultimately enhanced their ability to protect our college and university communities," said IACLEA President David L. Perry in a statement on the organization's website.

Perry went on to express confidence that campus police departments use the military equipment only "in a responsible manner with the goal of better serving and protecting the people we serve on campus and enhancing the safety of our officers."

Also defending the program are Mississippi sheriffs and police chiefs, many of whom say they reserve the most powerful equipment for extreme situations that rarely occur and usually don't involve members of the general public.

MRAPs

Since the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department obtained a mine-resistant-ambush-protected-armored truck earlier this year, the agency has used it just once, said Sheriff Bill Rasco.

"We were with another agency having problems with gang violence and drug activities in an apartment complex area," he said. "We brought in 23 arrests that night. When you see that coming, it kind of makes you think about whether you want to fight us or not."

Prior to getting the vehicle, commonly called an MRAP, the agency used an old armored Wells Fargo truck to transport SWAT team members into dangerous situations, Rasco said. When the truck aged out of service, DeSoto County sought a replacement.

It cost just $10,000 to get the MRAP from the Department of Defense, Rasco said. The vehicle typically is worth nearly $700,000.

Rankin County Sheriff's Department also applied to get an MRAP. Like DeSoto, it had been using a refurbished bank truck for SWAT situations.

"You couldn't pay me enough money to sit in the armored truck we have now and let someone shoot a .308 rifle at it," Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey told The Clarion-Ledger in an earlier interview.

Bailey said there isn't a value on protecting the lives of his officers, as far as he's concerned. He buys top-notch, lightweight daily body armor for deputies on the road and heavier-duty body armor for the special response team.

"Some people are wondering why we have the toys that we have," Rasco said, "but if they would ride with us when we go on these SWAT calls, getting individuals out of barricaded homes, they would see why we need vehicles like this."

DeSoto County also has several M16s, helicopters and a grenade launcher. Rasco said his predecessor obtained the M16s and grenade launcher, all which will be returned to the Department of Defense because they're never used.

"It's all about how you use that equipment," Rasco said. "We're not a military, and we're not going to be a military. We're a law enforcement agency."

Contact Emily Le Coz at elecoz@jackson.gannett.com or (601) 961-7249. Follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.

See the full list

Go online to ClarionLedger.com to see a database of the more than 1,300 military-grade items currently owned by Mississippi law-enforcement agencies statewide.

Campuses Stock Up on Military Gear

At least two colleges and one university in Mississippi have received equipment from the Department of Defense 1033 program since 1997.

Hinds

Community

College

One M79 Grenade Launcher

Two M16A1 Rifles

Miss State

University

Five M16A1 Rifles

Hinds Community College

Four M16 Rifles