A Federal Effort to Reuse Military Gear Turned Cops Into Commandos

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Tactical officers fire tear gas on Aug. 11 in Ferguson, Mo.

Photograph by Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP Photo

The heavily militarized police force in a St. Louis suburb is hardly an anomaly. Local police departments across the country deploy not just military-style equipment but actual castoffs from the U.S. military.