Many small-town police stations equipped with military gear, like what Ferguson police are using

For years small-town police stations have been loading up on free military gear through a U.S. Department of Defense program that allows the transfer of military property that is no longer needed, with few restrictions placed on the use of the items. That means rural police stations, often in areas with little crime, are stocked up as if they are prepping for war. And if the events in Ferguson, Mo., are any indication, some local police do have the ability to resemble military operations, with the $360,000 Bearcat armored truck on patrol in Ferguson acquired through the program, Julie Bosman and Matt Apuzzo report for The New York Times. (To view this interactive NYT map of counties that received military property click here)

Ferguson isn't the only area where local law enforcement is capable of resembling an army. Since the mid 1980s La Plata County, Colorado, has averaged about 30 violent crimes per year among its more than 50,000 residents, yet the local police force has on hand a small arsenal, Jonathan Thompson reports for High Country News. Through the program local law enforcement agencies "have received over 5,000 battlefield-tested items, including at least 100 bayonet knives, three ordnance- and explosive-disposal robots, 18 5.56 mm rifles (M16s), five 7.62 mm rifles (M14s), 15 .45 caliber pistols, 30 bipods for machine guns, four night vision sniper scopes, two exercise bikes and a Cat-1 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP)."

Here is a sample of what some law enforcement agencies have received (For a more complete list, click here):
• Moffat County, Colorado, population 13,000, got 11 assault rifles and two grenade launchers.
• Montrose County, Colorado, got two grenade launchers.
• San Juan County, New Mexico, got three MRAPS, two helicopters, a “combat/assault/tactical wheeled vehicle” and 192 assault packs.
• Union County, New Mexico, with 4,000 residents, received some 2,000 items from the program, including an elliptical trainer, 14 M110 IWS sniper sets, a dishwasher, a milk dispenser, four projection screens, four radars, seven lawn mowers and edgers and six motor scooters.
• Fremont County, Idaho, with less than 13,000 residents, picked up no fewer than 60 assault rifles and pistols.
• Utah counties collectively picked up more than 1,000 assault rifles and pistols
• Coconino County, Arizona, stocked up on more than 90 assault rifles, pistols and riot style shotguns, in addition to night vision goggles, 13 thermal sights and 40 ground troops’ helmets.                                                                
• Big Horn County, Wyoming, population 12,000, got 25 rifles and pistols, a bunch of trucks and an MRAP.
• Goshen County, Wyoming, with 13,000 residents, scored several riot style shotguns and a grenade launcher.
• Laramie County, Wyoming, got 246 assault rifles, nine pistols, an armored truck and a $733,000 mine-resistant vehicle.
• All together, Wyoming law enforcement agencies received 936 assault rifles and 72 automatic pistols.