About This Tool
This map is an inventory of military weapons and equipment given to law enforcement agencies. You can search for departments, zoom in on regions of the country, and click on an inventory to view particular items. If you're most interested in a category of equipment, like unmanned vehicles, you can re-plot the map with the tool on the top left. Historical data going back to 2014 can be downloaded freely via the link at the top of the page.
These data are current as of December 2024, and will be updated as more become available. Eventually, this map will include equipment obtained through other state and federal programs.
Who is this tool for?
This tool was built with police, policymakers, and the public in mind. We hope leaders in law enforcement will find it useful to see what peer departments tend to have on hand. We hope policymakers and the public use this tool to better understand how their local law enforcement address their capacity needs. And we hope researchers will find the high quality data useful for studying law enforcement in the US.
How do we define "most similar"?
Law enforcement agencies come in all shapes and sizes. We first make sure to compare agencies of the same type — whether it be a city police department, sheriff, state agency, or special district. We then identify agencies that police jurisdictions with similar population density and wealth.
Are there other important differences between the places people live? Of course! But we don't want to be exhaustive. If you notice a "similar" agency is quite different — perhaps the politics or demography of that area are different — then this shorthand is doing its job. We provide these comparison agencies to help users think about law enforcement. Our tool informs, it does not judge.
Where can I find more information?
If you want more information about the team that produced this, or contact to us, you can visit our research page. For more information about military equipment in law enforcement, we recommend you read the federal government's description of the program, or recent studies about its effects published by Lowande and by Anna Gunderson, Elisha Cohen, Kaylyn Jackson Schiff, Tom S. Clark, Adam N. Glynn and Michael Leo Owens. This tool was funded with generous support from the Russell Sage Foundation.