Every year the Pentagon distributes its excess equipment to local police departments across the country. This equipment includes assault rifles, grenade launchers, armored vehicles, night-vision goggles, and various aircraft.
The Pentagon, however, is passing around much more than military-grade nightmare gear, according to data released to MuckRock under a Freedom of Information Act request. Here's a list of items that the Pentagon has also distributed the to local agencies across the country (I've also published this list previously on my blog):
31 armoires
1 money counter
6 french horns and 1 euphonium
179 assorted lawn mowers
271 assorted treadmills
72 golf carts and 1 order of golf balls
2 pizza ovens
37 kitchen spatulas, 35 laboratory spatulas, and 3 dental spatulas
71 dessert spoons, 82 tea spoons, and 12 picnic spoons
30 shower curtain hooks
1 pair of cotton underwear
1252 laundry bags
1 recumbent exercise bike
39 scooters
5809 wet weather poncho liners
2 food carrying carts
17 dish towels
23 soccer balls
3 fishing boats, 19 kayaks, and 7 canoes
10 men's pajama trousers
21 kevlar goatskin combat gloves
4758 neckerchiefs
1 santa’s uniform
1 simulated suicide bomber vest
4 black rain coats
3 “slaving” accessories (I’m hoping this is a typo)
1 bouncy castle w/ blower
The Times, which recently ran an interactive piece about the Pentagon's equipment program, notes that “this data does not represent all of the military-style gear that law enforcement agencies have. Agencies also purchase equipment with their own money or with federal grants.” It’s a distinct possibility that there’s more than one police department with a bouncy castle out there, inhabited, I hope, by a santasuit-wearing cop holding an assault rifle in one hand and a dental spatula in the other.
Download the original data here.