[Rammstein]

Miami to give officers assault weapons

By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 16, 8:00 PM ET

MIAMI - Patrol officers will have the option of carrying assault rifles as police try to combat the rise in the use of similar weapons by criminals, Miami's police chief said Sunday.

Police Chief John Timoney approved the new policy last week, before a Miami-Dade police officer was killed in a shootout with an assault rifle-wielding suspect on Thursday.

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

The policy had been under review for about a year due to officers seeing an increase in the weapons, Timoney said.

Officers interested in the guns will have to undergo two days of training and be certified to use the weapons. The police department doesn't yet have money to purchase the guns, and if officers want to use them now, they will have to pay for them, Timoney said.

Years ago, law enforcement specialists like SWAT teams were the only officers to carry assault weapons, but now even small town police agencies are expanding access to 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 deployed them in all patrol vehicles for several years. In Stillwater, Okla., about 70 miles west of Tulsa, every police patrol officer is issued an AR-15.

Officers in Los Angeles have been equipped with the weapons even longer, soon after a 1997 gunfight outside a bank where police faced a man armed with an AK-47. Officers in that situation had to go to a nearby gun store to get high-velocity weapons.

Timoney said it has become apparent over the last year that Miami officers need 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.

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

Officers using the weapons in Miami will shoot "frangible" bullets, which shatter after they've hit something to avoid striking bystanders or other unintended targets.

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

Source

great... :?

 

[ptsmith24]

Only a matter of time before they shoot themselves or an innocent with it.

 

[slabertooch]

What I don't get, is that most of these rifles are stored in the back of the cruiser, locked up. What good is it unless you are going into a situation and know about it before hand.

Pretty soon cops will look like this

Papers, Papers please!

I AM DA LAAW!

how about this thing?

 

[ptsmith24]

:shock:

 

[tace]

I think the police officers in Europe have it right. Instead of big bulky rifles, they carry SMGs. Patrol officers, security guards and check point guys carry them all the time.

Personally, I would rather have an MP5 slung over my shoulder than an AR in my trunk.

 

[ber950]

You may be right but Americans are not ready for that yet

 

[gunsmoker]

long gun

To save money and to keep the citizen from being alarmed at the sight of what look like machineguns being brandished by the police, I'd suggest that cops carry the Mini-14 with the conventional wooden stock and a 10 or 20-round magazine. It's not the best combat rifle out there, especially in the factory stock configuration, but it would beat the heck out of a pistol nearly all the time and even a shotgun most of the time (distances beyond 25 yards, or with target behind some cover).[/b]

 

[gunsmoker]

"Carry"

and I mean vehicle carry, having it on the seat next to them or in the trunk. Not literally on their person as they do routine police duties like directing traffic around an accident scene.

 

[Rammstein]

or...how about the police be....are you ready for this.....peace officers.

Keep the sidearm and keep doing what they've been doing for more than a century.

They are not the military, if they want to be the military Uncle Sugar will take them at any time.

 

[wsweeks2]

or...how about the police be....are you ready for this.....peace officers.

Oh to be young again. :wink:

 

[RepeatDefender]

Yep, just what we need here in America. That will get rid of all the crime in the country. If we will just let our Gestapo...I mean police :wink: carry assault weapons and SMG's, crime will vanish. Especially since we'll be taking back all the weapons currently in private ownership!

Sarcasm off...

I don't understand how we can keep letting this happen. Now instead of bursting into grandma's house on a suspected crack deal, they'll burst in with automatic weapons fire and instead of just killing grandma, they'll also kill grandpa, the dogs, the cats, the parakeet and the next door neighbors kids who are playing outside the house.

 

[gunsmoker]

Gunning for Grandma

Well, if you're going to limit their choice of weapons by their potential for mis-use by corrupt, dishonest, or just incompetent officers, why even allow them to carry Glocks with full-capacity magazines? Maybe we should limit them to revolvers, .38 special caliber. And they only get one live round, which must be kept in their shirt pocket until they get the Chief's order to load?

Bad guys DO sometimes have rifles and shotguns and machineguns, and they often outnumber police (at least initially, until back-up units arrive).

Why allow the police to be outgunned? I say give 'em a carbine!

 

[Taler]

Re: Gunning for Grandma

Well, if you're going to limit their choice of weapons by their potential for mis-use by corrupt, dishonest, or just incompetent officers, why even allow them to carry Glocks with full-capacity magazines? Maybe we should limit them to revolvers, .38 special caliber. And they only get one live round, which must be kept in their shirt pocket until they get the Chief's order to load?

Bad guys DO sometimes have rifles and shotguns and machineguns, and they often outnumber police (at least initially, until back-up units arrive).

Why allow the police to be outgunned? I say give 'em a carbine!

Barney had an ND, shooting himself in his foot, btw, hence the pocket carry of his round.

Why allow the average citizen to be out gunned? I say give us all a carbine.

De-militarize the police.

 

[ThetaReactor]

The obvious argument for this is the North Hollywood shootout. A rifle in the back of the squad car may have stopped things much more quickly.

Of course, cops that could hit the broad side of the barn could have done the same thing. Hell, my mother is a better shot than about 90% of the cops in Henry county.

 

[foshizzle]

If we have to give up our AW's if Hillary gets elected I think the cops should get rid of theirs as well. If nobody can have an assault weapon but them, why would they need them?

 

[Rammstein]

Re: Gunning for Grandma

Well, if you're going to limit their choice of weapons by their potential for mis-use by corrupt, dishonest, or just incompetent officers, why even allow them to carry Glocks with full-capacity magazines? Maybe we should limit them to revolvers, .38 special caliber. And they only get one live round, which must be kept in their shirt pocket until they get the Chief's order to load?

Bad guys DO sometimes have rifles and shotguns and machineguns, and they often outnumber police (at least initially, until back-up units arrive).

Why allow the police to be outgunned? I say give 'em a carbine!

The issue is not the officers having the rifle (like in their trunk) it is them carrying it on their person when they patrol the street.

That is the very meaning of militarization of the police.

 

[Sgt.B]

Officers using the weapons in Miami will shoot "frangible" bullets, which shatter after they've hit something to avoid striking bystanders or other unintended targets.

5.56 in a frangible. A weapon I doubt they can accurately engage targets with beyond 100 meters.

If the Miami police wants a rifle they will get a rifle.
I'll stick with a 7.62x51!

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breakin ... 41164.html

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who frequently touts his crime-fighting record when he was mayor of New York City, said Monday that Miami Police Chief John Timoney ''made the right decision'' in allowing officers to start carrying assault weapons

The former mayor didn't answer a question about whether he favors the reinstatement of a federal ban on many military-style assault weapons.

Since he began his presidential campaign, Giuliani has emphasized his support for the Second Amendment instead of his previously vigorous support for gun control. While serving as New York City mayor, Giuliani broke ranks with many members of his party to lobby for the federal assault-weapons ban, and he was at former President Bill Clinton's side when it was signed into law in 1994.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

An NRA spokesman tells me that ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a prominent advocate for gun control when he was mayor of New York City, will be among those presidential candidates who speak to before the NRA's Celebration of American Values convention in Washington Friday.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/arc ... _event.php

 

[ptsmith24]

:?