Policy changes ease LESO access for law enforcement departments

The Defense Logistics Agency has begun implementing sweeping changes to the way surplus military equipment flows to local police, elevating law enforcement requests in its reuse pipeline, transferring titles more quickly, and for the first time handing ownership of small arms to nonfederal departments.

The moves follow an April 2025 executive order directing an increase in the provision of excess federal equipment to law enforcement and subsequent interagency talks that included defense, Justice and Homeland Security officials, according to the agency. DLA’s Law Enforcement Support Office, known as LESO, submitted seven recommendations shaped by participant feedback, governor-appointed state coordinators, and agency leadership, said John Williams, LESO’s Western team lead.

Established in 1997 after Congress first authorized transfers of excess military material to law enforcement in the early 1990s, LESO has helped deliver equipment originally valued at more than $8 billion to thousands of agencies. Most requests are for non-controlled items—such as clothing, office supplies, tools and emergency response gear—that become the property of recipients at no cost. Controlled items, a small fraction of transfers, were historically loaned and closely tracked. Tactical vehicles like Humvees and MRAPs account for less than 1% of transfers; small arms such as pistols and rifles represent less than 2%, the agency said.

The first new policy, adopted in August, gives law enforcement priority over other special programs during the Defense Department’s 42‑day reutilization, transfer and donation (RTD) cycle for excess property. While military units still have the first 14 days to claim items for reuse, early access by special programs now places police at the front of the line when the services decline property, a shift the agency says has already boosted the share of successful LESO requests.

In October, DLA began granting immediate title to all non-controlled, commercially available property—excluding certain Humvee models—rather than retaining ownership for a year. “Recipients had to maintain and track and inventory at the LEA level and the state level,” said LESO Branch Chief Brienne Hallifax. “This has been a very positive administrative change for them.”

The most consequential step to date came this spring with the transfer of small arms ownership to local departments. In March, two weapons held by the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan became the first fully transferred to nonfederal law enforcement; in April, 17 more were transferred to the Clawson Police Department. Michigan is serving as a test bed for a broader rollout in a program that counts about 40,000 small arms in LESO inventory and 166 departments in the state currently holding federal weapons. LESO’s Michigan coordinator, Larry Goerge, who began working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on registrations in 2022, said departments quickly saw the benefit. “It’s a huge benefit to our departments,” Goerge said. “They can now treat these weapons like they treat their own inventory they purchased. If they make modifications, if a weapon is damaged, there’s no longer a reporting requirement. Ownership will save them a lot of time and administrative burden.”

He added that while building a transfer system to meet federal requirements has been challenging, a more streamlined process is emerging. LESO leaders credited Michigan’s pace-setting work. “Larry was active, responsive, motivated and easy to work with,” said LESO Eastern Team Lead Jake Collier. “He worked very hard to make sure all those small arms were registered correctly. He’s ready to go.”

The policy updates are part of a broader 2026 LESO transformation as DLA adapts to contested logistics environments and seeks to narrow the gap between law enforcement and taxpayer-funded excess equipment. Alongside compliance reviews conducted every other year in each state, Hallifax said the office aims to shift more time toward training and outreach to increase awareness and ease participation. “Our customer isn’t DOW,” Hallifax said, stressing LESO’s constant need to conduct outreach and education. “They’re not a traditional RTD customer, in the sense of being military that’s used to some of our ‘DOW-isms.’ These are law enforcement agencies, whose primary responsibility is protecting and serving, not being property disposal specialists or logisticians. … We’re focused on helping get these LEAs over their hurdles to make it easy for them to be in our program.”