President Obama begins police demilitarization

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Monday President Obama ended the long-standing federal practice of providing battlefield-style equipment to local police around the nation, including Illinois. It is a program the I-Team has reported on for years

There are actually police departments in Indiana that have military-tracked vehicles; tank-like personnel carriers now among the items banned for use by local police.

Camouflage, grenade launchers, bayonets, weaponized aircraft and 50-caliber or higher ammunition are among the other items scrubbed from the federal equipment program. But despite the fanfare from the white house, police agencies will not have to give up some of their most controversial gear.

Most of the armored equipment featured in a Marine Corps video will still be approved for the military to provide to local police for their use on city streets, including mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles known as MRAPS. One is parked at the police station in southwest suburban Justice, Ill., while another is featured on the Kankakee County Sheriff Department's YouTube page.

President Obama says the most offensive-style equipment will be removed from the streets.

"We've seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people the feeling like there's an occupying force, as opposed to a force that is part of the community that's protecting them and serving them can intimidate local residents and send a wrong message," said President Obama. "So we'll prohibit some equipment made for the battlefield that is not appropriate for local police departments."

An I-Team investigation from 2013 found $37 million of taxpayer money went to supply Illinois law enforcement agencies, with warehouse loads of war weapons ending up in Chicago and the suburbs.

That original investigation found a Humvee deployed at Catholic Benedictine University in Lisle along with two M16 rifles.

In Round Lake Park, the police had special forces night vision devices, an expensive digital evidence camera, a brand new Apple computer, two flat-screen televisions and even the carpet tiles on the floor provided by the program, along with a Humvee that regularly makes parade appearances.

And at the popular Brookfield Zoo the I-Team also found an arsenal of M16 and M14 automatic rifles. The combat weapons, provided to zoo police in 2013 according to a spokesperson, were to better protect the public, the animals and save money.

The zoo says they have returned to guns because they no longer need them and in the future will just buy their own equipment rather than taking it from Washington.

The state office that doles out Defense Department equipment to police agencies says it will work with local law enforcement to ensure compliance with the new presidential directive. According to Illinois officials, no police agencies were issued weapons more than .50 caliber, track wheel units or armed aircraft. They did give out lots of camouflage gear, and it's unclear if it will have to be returned.