How Pentagon May Indirectly Shoulder Some Legal Costs in Hamlet with Huge Police Force

The Pentagon opened a 1990 program offering military surplus equipment to state and federal agencies to fight the war on drugs to all police departments in 1997. (Photo via Flickr)

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A $111,000 military truck shouldn’t be that hard to find, but one transferred to the police department in the Village of Oakley – you remember Oakley, the hamlet of about 300 where there’s a police or police reserve officer, including rapper-turned-rocker Kid Rock, for every two residents – is elusive.

The surplus military vehicle was transferred to the Oakley Police Department in December, but village trustee Dennis Bitterman said he didn’t know anything about it until reading of its existence on MLive.com.

“Where is it?” he wondered aloud, telling the newspaper that neither he nor trustee Francis Koski were informed of the purchase by Police Chief Robert Reznick, who Oakley village trustees have accused of going rogue and failing to inform them about decisions, including a police reserve program that recently swelled to 150 deputized individuals.

Reznick’s program is under scrutiny for an alleged pay-for-play scheme that gives celebrities and others special law enforcement status in exchange for cash and equipment donations.

CATCH UP ON THIS STORY:

• Judge to Decide Skirmish with ‘Rogue’ Police Force with 1 Officer for 3 Residents
• Kid Rock’s A Cop; No, Really

The elusive stake truck, though, was purchased under the Pentagon’s 1033 Program and Oakley wasn’t the only municipality in Michigan that received surplus military equipment from it. You can access a database on MLive.com.

Created in 1990 to assist federal and state agencies in counter-drug activities, the program was amended in 1997. Preference for armored trucks, tanks, grenade launchers and other miscellaneous equipment is still given to counter-drug and counter-terrorism requests, but all police agencies may acquire excess equipment for legitimate law enforcement purposes.

The records of where the equipment was going were classified until late last year, when the Pentagon responded to calls for transparency after police in armored vehicles clashed with demonstrators in Ferguson, MO, and other places.

“Get Some For-Sale Signs”

Back in Michigan, Bitterman and Koski contacted Larry Goerge, the point of contact for the military surplus sale, who reportedly told them that Reznick is storing the truck off-site. It may be moved to the public works garage to “so people aren’t wondering where the vehicle is,” he told MLive.

The truck, acquired for $110,910 last June and delivered in December, may be used in a variety of public tasks in Oakley, village council president Richard Fish said.

The 1033 Program allows for its sale after a year – something the village may do to pay off legal expenses related to a two-year court battle to get the names of police reserve officers in the village and the amount of money they’ve donated, Fish said.

“June’s almost here,” Koski told MLive. “Get some for-sale signs. Let’s sell it.

Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Hemlock attorney Philip Ellison have cost the village $18,000, which the village council voted to pay on April 17. In addition to Robert Ritchie, who performs as Kid Rock, the bloated reserve roster also include Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jason Fox.