
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995                   TAG: 9507130036
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

POLICE GET HIGH-TECH GEAR FROM MILITARY

The reduction of the nation's military has led to a surplus of high-tech gear that Virginia's state and local police are now using in the war on crime - for free.

``We have a camera that can take a photo of someone 500 to 600 yards away,'' says Robert L. Tavenner, a state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation special agent. He has been handling state police acquisition of the military surplus during the past year and a half.

``We've just received a number of night-vision scopes, originally costing $2,300 apiece,'' he said.

Then there's an $80,000 microscope for checking details of a photograph. ``It was designed for the military to get a close look at aerial photographs,'' Tavenner said.

After the end of the Cold War, Congress in 1990 authorized the dispersal of military surplus for use by law enforcement officers. Virginia has received nearly $5 million worth of equipment.

Tavenner said acquisition of the ``simple stuff, like the plastic, bullet-resistant helmets and 35mm cameras, is saving us hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."

- Associated Press

by CNB