The 1033 program was created as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in 1997, allowing the Department of Defense to pass on its excess equipment to local authorities. For decades, $7.4 billion in Defense property has been shipped to 8,000 law enforcement agencies — including cities like Atlanta, Georgia.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this surplus equipment directly threatens our safety. A data analysis of 651 Georgia departments found that departments that took more than $1,000 in 1033 money were responsible for shooting four times as many people as departments that didn’t.
If you live in or have loved ones in Georgia, you can see what its police departments received at Reform Georgia’s link: https://pushblack.news/99p. And, if you saw what happened with the Stop Cop City movement, there’s undoubtedly a connection at play.
Stop Cop City offered a glimpse into an even more militarized future. Protesters were attacked with flash-bang grenades, tear gas, tanks, and snipers for blocking the construction site. These protesters dared to question the police state’s idea of order and control, which is violence.
Since the state defines order as violence, it uses violence to maintain order. 1033 equipment is just one way police can accomplish that. A future without militarized police means withdrawing from this program, and programs like it. And a future without police violence means dismantling the entire police system, and redefining order and safety.