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Veteran congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard says police should not act like military

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says the use of military-grade equipment in Ferguson last month shows the Pentagon's weapons-transfer program is in need of reconsideration.

By Gabrielle Levy
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, right, is one of the first female veterans to serve in Congress along with Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. (Facebook)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, right, is one of the first female veterans to serve in Congress along with Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. (Facebook)

HONOLULU, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, one of the first female veterans ever elected to Congress, had tough words for the state of policing in the U.S.

Gabbard, a freshman Democrat who served two tours in Iraq and is a Captain in the Hawaii National Guard, said recent events in Ferguson, Mo., revealed a systematic problem in the way police across the country act.

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"You have these local law enforcement officials using military-grade weapons, military equipment in a way that is far beyond what is necessary," Gabbard told KITV4. "As a result, you're seeing people in the community feeling obviously very frustrated, but also feeling more and more like there's an adversarial relationship within the government."

Gabbard said she supports a resolution sponsored by her colleague, Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., that will require verified training before local police are allowed to receive military-grade equipment.

She says she supports the resolution, but has not signed on because she believes it could go further in limiting what types of weapons police could use.

Congress should "make sure that certain types of military grade equipment and weaponry should be reserved only for military use," she said. "For example, we have a National Guard in every single state and territory in the country. We have the ability through the governor to call them into action should you have a situation on the ground that mandates that type of response."

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Hawaii's police, including the Honolulu Police Department, have some of the same equipment that was deployed during last month's unrest in Ferguson after the shooting of Michael Brown.

Gabbard says the program that sees those weapons handed over from the Pentagon to local departments needs to be reconsidered.

"It can save taxpayer dollars, but we just have to make sure that the right kinds of equipment are being transferred and that they're being used properly and in the right situation," she said.

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