WRAL requested the agency-level data from the Department of Public Safety, which said the information was covered by the security plan exemption to the state public records law. North Carolina is one of a small number of states that has refused to release the information.
WRAL: In the wake of protests in Ferguson, Mo. several news outlets across the country have taken a new look at the Pentagon’s 1033 program, which provides surplus military equipment to local police departments.
The Department of Public Safety provided a county-level breakdown of equipment that has been provided to North Carolina agencies under the program, but declined to provide agency-level figures.
WRAL reports that a DPS spokeswoman cited the security plans exemption to the public records law as the basis for the decision not to release it. The exemption refers to specific plans to protect public buildings, as well as specific tactics, procedures and risk assessments. DPS declined to explain how releasing which pieces of equipment were received by law enforcement agencies would jeopardize those things.
Read WRAL’s coverage here.