RALEIGH – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) and ACLU affiliates in 22 other states today simultaneously filed public records requests to determine the extent to which local police departments are using federally subsidized military technology and tactics that are traditionally used overseas.
“North Carolinians deserve to know how much their local police are using military weapons and tactics for everyday policing,” said Chris Brook, ACLU-NCLF Legal Director. “Across the country, local law enforcement agencies are increasingly using military equipment to conduct traditional law enforcement activities. We need to make sure these resources and tactics are deployed only with rigorous oversight and strong legal protections.”
The ACLU-NCLF filed public record requests with 64 of the state’s largest local law enforcement agencies (listed below), seeking information on the use of:
•SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Teams, including:
o Number and purpose of deployments
o Types of weapons used during deployments
o Injuries sustained by civilians during deployments
o Training materials
o Funding sources
• Cutting edge weapons and technologies,including:
o GPS tracking devices
o Unmanned aerial vehicles (“drones”)
o Augmented detainee restraint (“shock-cuffs”)
o Military weaponry, equipment, and vehicles obtained from or funded by federal agencies such as the Departments of Defense and/or Homeland Security
“Equipping state and local law enforcement with military weapons and vehicles, military tactical training, and actual military assistance to conduct traditional law enforcement erodes civil liberties and encourages increasingly aggressive policing, particularly in poor neighborhoods and communities of color,” said Kara Dansky, senior counsel for ACLU’s Center for Justice. “We’ve seen examples of this in several localities, but we don’t know the dimensions of the problem.”
ACLU affiliates from 23 states filed the public records requests. Once the information has been collected and analyzed, if needed, the ACLU will use the results to recommend changes in law and policy governing the use of military tactics and technology in local law enforcement.
The North Carolina agencies who were sent the public records request are:
• Alamance County Sheriff
• Anson County Sheriff
• Apex Police Department
• Asheville Police Department
• Avery County Sheriff
• Beaufort County Sheriff
• Brunswick County Sheriff
• Buncombe County Sheriff
• Burke County Sheriff
• Burlington Police Department
• Caldwell County Sheriff
• Camden County Sheriff
• Carteret County Sheriff
• Cary Police Department
• Caswell County Sheriff
• Catawba County Sheriff
• Chapel Hill Police Department
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
• Chatham County Sheriff
• Concord Police Department
• Cumberland County Sheriff
• Davie County Sheriff
• Durham County Sheriff
• Durham Police Department
• Edgecombe County Sheriff
• Fayetteville Police Department
• Forsyth County Sheriff
• Garner Police Department
• Gaston Police Department
• Gaston County Sheriff
• Gastonia Police Department
• Goldsboro Police Department
• Greensboro Police Department
• Greenville Police Department
• Guilford County Sheriff
• Halifax County Sheriff
• Hertford County Sheriff
• Hickory Police Department
• High Point Police Department
• Holly Springs Police Department
• Huntersville Police Department
• Jacksonville Police Department
• Jones County Sheriff
• Lenoir County Sheriff
• Monroe Police Department
• New Hanover County Sheriff
• Onslow County Sheriff
• Orange County Sheriff
• Pitt County Sheriff
• Raleigh Police Department
• Randolph County Sheriff
• Rockingham County Sheriff
• Sampson County Sheriff
• Stanly County Sheriff
• Stokes County Sheriff
• Surry County Sheriff
• Transylvania County Sheriff
• Union County Sheriff
• Wake County Sheriff
• Washington Police Department
• Wilmington Police Department
• Wilson County Sheriff
• Winston-Salem Police Department
• Wrightsville Beach Police Department
For more information, please visit http://www.aclu.org/militarization