Attorney General Pam Bondi today issued the following statement regarding President Donald J. Trump’s executive order lifting the ban on transferring certain surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies:
“This executive order will help ensure our brave law enforcement officers have the gear they need to combat terrorism, drug cartels, gangs and other threats to public safety. This order will give our law enforcement officers access to billions of dollars’ worth of equipment such as armored vehicles, ammunition and other military gear that will help in disaster related situations like we are seeing in Texas with Hurricane Harvey—as well as terrorism-related cases such as the Pulse nightclub attack, where a military-style helmet stopped a bullet, saving an officer’s life, and San Bernardino, where this type of equipment protected law enforcement officers as they pursued terrorists.
“I want to thank President Trump for standing up for law enforcement and signing this order to give officers access to more lifesaving tools. Equipment like this could help Florida law enforcement officers respond to hurricanes and the destruction left in the aftermath.”