Federal Manager's Daily Report

The White House has told agencies that they need to better coordinate and control donations they make to state and local law enforcement agencies, particularly military-style equipment.

An executive order notes that agencies transfer excess equipment through GSA donations, asset forfeiture programs and federal grants, of equipment ranging from standard office furniture and computers to firearms and military tactical vehicles.

“The federal government must ensure that careful attention is paid to standardizing procedures” for transferring such equipment and for training recipients in its proper use, an executive order says. It creates an interagency Law Enforcement Equipment Working group to identify agency actions that can improve federal oversight of transfers of such equipment, including standards to prevent its misuse; centralized tracking of such transfers through a new database; requiring after-action reports for significant incidents in which the equipment was used; recouping such equipment when it is no longer needed by the recipients; and other steps.