A new lease on life: How old equipment becomes new again at Minnesota law enforcement agencies
Dec. 12, 2022
Many of us are familiar with the phrase, “Reduce, reuse, recycle," as it relates to eliminating waste and saving money in our everyday lives. But it may surprise you to know that Minnesota law enforcement agencies are doing the same thing with meaningful pieces of equipment.
The Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) program reallocates Department of Defense (DoD) property to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Excess property and equipment could be as small as binoculars and as large as an MRAP (mine resistant ambush protected) vehicle. It also includes everything in between, like clothing, firearms, bomb robots and medical supplies.
Agencies, especially small agencies, don't have the budget to purchase this kind of equipment to assist with daily public safety calls. Without LESO, these agencies would be depending on larger partners who could provide mutual aid — which isn't always ideal — or they would be hampered from responding to specific types of calls. Simply put, this equipment allows them to be more effective in the work they do when lives and safety are at stake.
This program allows the DoD to give property a new lease on life by allowing agencies in Minnesota to utilize it. And these law enforcement agencies save a lot of money by applying for and receiving this property to keep their communities safe.
Just under 200 law enforcement agencies across Minnesota participate in LESO — accounting for $56.2 million in equipment that's being utilized regularly for public safety purposes.
To receive the items, law enforcement agencies must show how the equipment will support officers with their daily activities.
Minnesota law enforcement agencies recently passed the biannual inventory audit included in the LESO program with flying colors. To stay in compliance, Minnesota must submit to an annual inventory check by the DoD every two years. The goal? To validate that law enforcement agencies that have received LESO property are using it in accordance with the state plan. In other words, law enforcement officers must use the equipment as a part of their overall public safety mission.
This inventory review involves the LESO coordinator, who manages the program within our Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) division, and DoD personnel. This year, they took four days in August to travel to just under 25 law enforcement agencies and physically check that the property exists in the custody of the correct agency, that it is marked as DoD property, and that it is still in use. If not in use, they worked with the law enforcement agency if they plan to return the property.
While much of the equipment has proved invaluable, law enforcement agencies have learned that some items are more useful than others.
During this year's inventory audit, many agencies expressed an interest in returning weapons that were acquired through LESO. To assist with that interest, the Minnesota LESO office is considering hosting a weapons turn-in event. A previous turn-in event in January 2022 resulted in 65 law enforcement agencies returning more than 618 firearms that were no longer being used. The LESO office at HSEM then turned in that inventory to the DoD in April.
It can be a complex task to keep communities safe; the LESO program is just one of the ways HSEM steps up to help our partners in law enforcement.
