Portside

A federal program created by Congress more than 30 years ago transferred 80,000 rifles, 12,000 bayonets, 4,000 combat knives, nearly 500 ‘bomb detonator robots,’ 50 airplanes, ‘night-vision sniper scopes,’ and more to local police.

Sharp reductions in spending on police, prisons, and the Pentagon could free up hundreds of billions of dollars for programs that might begin to fill the gap in spending on public investments in communities of color and elsewhere.