Cops Assault Rifles- what do we think of this?

RedGlitter · Post by **RedGlitter** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:29 am

September 17, 2007

Miami Police Given Choice of Carrying Assault Rifles

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI, Sept. 16 (AP) — Patrol officers here will have the option of carrying assault rifles as they try to combat the rise in the use of similar weapons by criminals, the city’s police chief said Sunday.

The chief, John F. Timoney, approved the policy last week, before a Miami-Dade police officer was killed on Thursday in a shootout with a man wielding an assault rifle.

“This is something we do not do with any relish, Chief Timoney said. “We do this reluctantly.

The policy had been under review for about a year after officers began seeing an increase in the weapons in the hands of criminals, the chief said.

Officers interested in the guns will have to undergo two days of training and be certified in their use. The Police Department does not yet have money to buy the assault rifles, and if officers want to use them immediately they will have to pay for them, Chief Timoney said.

Years ago, law enforcement specialists like SWAT teams were the only officers to carry assault weapons, but now even some small town police agencies are arming officers with the AR-15, a civilian version of the military M-16 rifle.

Patrol officers in Danbury, Conn., have been allowed to carry the weapons since 2003. Police departments in Merced, Calif., and Waterloo, Iowa, have put them in all patrol vehicles for several years. In Stillwater, Okla., about 70 miles west of Tulsa, every patrol officer is issued an AR-15.

Officers in Los Angeles have been equipped with the weapons since a 1997 gunfight outside a bank where police officers were out-gunned by a man armed with an AK-47. Officers in that situation had to go to a nearby gun store to get high-velocity weapons.

Chief Timoney said it had become apparent over the last year that Miami officers needed the option of more powerful weapons.

The Miami Police Department said 15 of its 79 homicides last year involved assault weapons. This year, 12 of the 60 homicides have involved the high-power guns.

In the shooting on Thursday, a man opened fire on four Miami-Dade County police officers with an assault rifle during a traffic stop, killing one of the officers and injuring the other three. Police killed the man hours later.

Officers using the weapons in Miami will shoot bullets designed to shatter after they have hit something to avoid striking bystanders or other unintended targets.

Not all officers may choose to carry the new weapon. But Chief Timoney said, “If I was a police officer out there in a tough neighborhood, I would want to have that in the car.

JacksDad · Post by **JacksDad** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:53 am

Bravo!

Miami is a war zone. Those guys need all the help they can get.

cars · Post by **cars** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:45 am

Give our Police all the fire power they deserve! As they sometimes really do find themselves in a war zone. So currently as it is with our police, it's tantamount to our troops in Iraq fighting the bad guys with "pistols"! Police need to be given equal fire power, for their own survival!

RedGlitter · Post by **RedGlitter** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:48 am

I don't have much of an opinion either way at this time, but I was really surprised to hear they outfitted cops in "Stillwater" with them. Has it really gotten that bad?!

cars · Post by **cars** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:09 am

RedGlitter;695627 wrote: I don't have much of an opinion either way at this time, but I was really surprised to hear they outfitted cops in "Stillwater" with them. Has it really gotten that bad?!

Well trying to put it into perspective, put yourself in the cops shoes! If the bad guys were shooting at you with superior automatic firepower, would you want to be answering that firepower with just a pistol!!!? I know I would want all the firepower available & even more then them, so as to try to give the "Good Guys" an edge!

JacksDad · Post by **JacksDad** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:25 am

Last Thursday a Miami Officer was killed and three wounded in Cutler Ridge.

I don't think they want that to happen again.

911 · Post by **911** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:04 pm

I think the police have done everything they could think of to keep themselves safe, the perps and the 'man' on the street to no avail. They have used tear gas, rubber bullets, flash bangs, tasers, stun guns, you name it. But they are outmatched gun for gun.

The LEO is constantly trying not to hurt someone for fear of law suits, certain organizations and internal conflicts. They are fighting a losing battle among themselves.

I've never understood why the LEO had to treat someone with kid gloves who just tried to kill him.

These guns, as Martha would say, is a good thing. Especially the bullets they choose to use. No officer ever wants to kill anyone and they try everything else first but when it comes down to the wire, the playing field should be equal.

Post by **spot** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:01 pm

It should be a matter of principle and honor on the part of any police force that they don't kill more citizens than they suffer fatalities themselves. More than that and a country is headed toward becoming a repressed police state.

JacksDad · Post by **JacksDad** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:04 pm

Let's see, four officers and one man.

He won. Had they been properly armed so as to take him down?

One down, four standing.

Sounds fair enough to me.:sneaky: