shooterx10
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- May 8, 2003
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Funny how law enforcement is somehow immune to laws such as the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, Senate Bill 23, and countless others. As you read along, you will NOT see the words "assault weapons," but rather "tools." However, if a civilian owns a similar rifle, they are called "assault weapons." 
Officers packing more firepower
By Lauren Keene/Enterprise staff writer
Then: On the morning of Feb. 28, 1997, a crime occurred that would change the way police in Los Angeles -- and, eventually, all over the United States -- arm their patrol officers.
At 9 a.m. that day, two men armed with automatic and semiautomatic weapons robbed the North Hollywood branch of the Bank of America, engaging more than 200 police officers in a violent long-distance shootout that injured 11 officers and six civilians.
Police, armed only with handguns and shotguns until a SWAT team arrived, found themselves at a distinct disadvantage against the robbers, who had more powerful weapons and could shoot longer distances. High-quality body armor protected the robbers from their necks to their ankles, while their weapons reportedly were able to pierce police body armor from 200 yards away.
After 44 minutes, the shootout ended with the deaths of both robbers -- one of whom was shot by police, the other taking his own life. But the incident would cause law-enforcement agencies far beyond Los Angeles to re-evaluate how they went about protecting the public.
Now: Today, every law-enforcement agency in Yolo County has members of its department carrying or preparing to carry semiautomatic rifles. For many of them, it was the so-called "North Hollywood shootout" that led to this change in policy.
But the weapons also reflect a change in the times, where, unlike a decade or so ago, violence in settings such as schools and workplaces make headlines with alarming frequency. Police say cops nationwide are finding themselves up against suspects who are well-organized and trained in the use of superior weaponry.
"Law enforcement is changing, evolving as technology changes and as needs change," said Capt. John Criste of the Yolo County Sheriff's Department, which began issuing Colt semiautomatic patrol rifles to officers in just the past several weeks. "It's just like a portable radio or a computer -- it's a tool we have available to our officers should the need arise."
Similar models of rifles are already in use at police departments in Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento and at UC Davis. Officials at the Winters Police Department could not be reached for comment.
Law-enforcement officials say the rifles offer numerous advantages, including the ability to shoot longer distances and with more precision than with a pistol -- an officer's primary weapon -- or the 12-gauge, pump-action shotguns that supplement them. Police say the rifles also recoil less when fired, making them more adaptable than shotguns.
"It not only gives an officer more accuracy, but they're also able to defeat soft body armor that a suspect might be wearing," said Officer Tom Waltz, a certified rifle instructor for the Davis Police Department. The agency began issuing the weapons to patrol officers in 2000, and 15 officers -- roughly two per patrol shift -- are certified to use them.
Police say another disadvantage of the shotgun is its ammunition -- a cartridge filled with nine buckshot pellets, which after being fired spread apart about three-quarters of an inch to one inch per yard they travel. Its purpose, police say, is to hit a moving target.
But if that target is more than 18 yards away, "the odds are that some of those pellets are going to miss the target because of the spread," Woodland Police Lt. Charles Wilts said. With a rifle, "it's going to strike right where you put it."
The ammunition used in the rifles --.223-caliber bullets, also referred to as 5.56mm -- are lighter bullets designed to "tumble" upon impact, resulting in less chance of overpenetration, police say.
All Yolo County law-enforcement agencies require their officers to pass a 16- to 24-hour certification course before being assigned a semiautomatic rifle. At UC Davis, officers are receiving 48 hours of training -- 24 hours of rifle operation and qualification training, and another 24 hours of "rapid deployment" training, used in situations when police need to stop a volatile threat.
"They kind of went hand in hand," UCD police Capt. Joyce Souza said of the combined training sessions. "If we're being overwhelmed with firepower, we need a method to combat that."
Souza cited the Columbine High School shootings as an example of an ongoing, active situation where rapid deployment would prove useful, "not one that has become stagnant and can wait for a SWAT team."
Meanwhile, agencies are finding another advantage to carrying the rifles. Some, like the West Sacramento Police Department, are retrofitting their shotguns into "less-lethal" weapons that discharge pellet-filled beanbags, allowing officers to stun and disable a subject without firing bullets.
"It allows us another option," said Sgt. Ray Bombardier, head ranger master for the West Sacramento Police Department, where patrol officers began using AR15 rifles about two years ago.
In West Sacramento and other agencies with rural areas in their jurisdictions, the use of rifles is not entirely new. The California Highway Patrol has used them for years, as have certain officers with the Yolo County Sheriff's Department.
Criste said the use of rifles at his agency actually dates back to the early 1980s. Staffing was thin at the time, and some patrol officers -- especially those assigned to the county's large, rural beats -- carried rifles as an optional weapon.
"We realized there was something that was needed in addition to the handgun and shotgun," Criste said. Patrol deputies who passed an authorization course were allowed to purchase their own rifles and ammunition.
Today, "what you're finding is it's more accepted as an urban rifle," Waltz said. Criste said it was the North Hollywood shootings "that really underscored the need for law enforcement to have such a weapon."
So far, no agency in Yolo County has reported any of its officers firing one of the rifles in the line of duty. But, according to Waltz, a semiautomatic rifle recently was put to the test in Lodi, where a man led police on a pursuit out of Sacramento, then held his girlfriend hostage in an open field. Police eventually disabled the armed man from 50 feet away.
For those who view the use of rifles as a "militarization" of police, law-enforcement officials say that's not the intent.
"Using a rifle is no different than using a handgun or a shotgun. It's all deadly force," Woodland's Lt. Wilts said. "We're not increasing the force. It's choosing the right tool for the job."
In Woodland, Colt rifles have been issued to members of the investigations division, and the department hopes to deplo
[check message length]y the rifles in patrol vehicles by the end of August when the officers' training is complete, Wilts said.
Waltz said his department considers the rifles a useful tool to have given Davis' placement along Interstate 80, making it a stopping place for out-of-towners to commit crimes.
"The fact is, we have our fair share of bank robberies," Waltz said. Though they've been relatively rare and often nonviolent, "we live in a world of what-ifs, and we try to prepare for the worst-case scenario. All it takes is a well-planned bank robbery that includes susp
[check message length]ects that are trained in weapons and tactics, and the police are at a huge disadvantage."
-- Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected]
Here is the link.
Officers packing more firepower
By Lauren Keene/Enterprise staff writer
Then: On the morning of Feb. 28, 1997, a crime occurred that would change the way police in Los Angeles -- and, eventually, all over the United States -- arm their patrol officers.
At 9 a.m. that day, two men armed with automatic and semiautomatic weapons robbed the North Hollywood branch of the Bank of America, engaging more than 200 police officers in a violent long-distance shootout that injured 11 officers and six civilians.
Police, armed only with handguns and shotguns until a SWAT team arrived, found themselves at a distinct disadvantage against the robbers, who had more powerful weapons and could shoot longer distances. High-quality body armor protected the robbers from their necks to their ankles, while their weapons reportedly were able to pierce police body armor from 200 yards away.
After 44 minutes, the shootout ended with the deaths of both robbers -- one of whom was shot by police, the other taking his own life. But the incident would cause law-enforcement agencies far beyond Los Angeles to re-evaluate how they went about protecting the public.
Now: Today, every law-enforcement agency in Yolo County has members of its department carrying or preparing to carry semiautomatic rifles. For many of them, it was the so-called "North Hollywood shootout" that led to this change in policy.
But the weapons also reflect a change in the times, where, unlike a decade or so ago, violence in settings such as schools and workplaces make headlines with alarming frequency. Police say cops nationwide are finding themselves up against suspects who are well-organized and trained in the use of superior weaponry.
"Law enforcement is changing, evolving as technology changes and as needs change," said Capt. John Criste of the Yolo County Sheriff's Department, which began issuing Colt semiautomatic patrol rifles to officers in just the past several weeks. "It's just like a portable radio or a computer -- it's a tool we have available to our officers should the need arise."
Similar models of rifles are already in use at police departments in Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento and at UC Davis. Officials at the Winters Police Department could not be reached for comment.
Law-enforcement officials say the rifles offer numerous advantages, including the ability to shoot longer distances and with more precision than with a pistol -- an officer's primary weapon -- or the 12-gauge, pump-action shotguns that supplement them. Police say the rifles also recoil less when fired, making them more adaptable than shotguns.
"It not only gives an officer more accuracy, but they're also able to defeat soft body armor that a suspect might be wearing," said Officer Tom Waltz, a certified rifle instructor for the Davis Police Department. The agency began issuing the weapons to patrol officers in 2000, and 15 officers -- roughly two per patrol shift -- are certified to use them.
Police say another disadvantage of the shotgun is its ammunition -- a cartridge filled with nine buckshot pellets, which after being fired spread apart about three-quarters of an inch to one inch per yard they travel. Its purpose, police say, is to hit a moving target.
But if that target is more than 18 yards away, "the odds are that some of those pellets are going to miss the target because of the spread," Woodland Police Lt. Charles Wilts said. With a rifle, "it's going to strike right where you put it."
The ammunition used in the rifles --.223-caliber bullets, also referred to as 5.56mm -- are lighter bullets designed to "tumble" upon impact, resulting in less chance of overpenetration, police say.
All Yolo County law-enforcement agencies require their officers to pass a 16- to 24-hour certification course before being assigned a semiautomatic rifle. At UC Davis, officers are receiving 48 hours of training -- 24 hours of rifle operation and qualification training, and another 24 hours of "rapid deployment" training, used in situations when police need to stop a volatile threat.
"They kind of went hand in hand," UCD police Capt. Joyce Souza said of the combined training sessions. "If we're being overwhelmed with firepower, we need a method to combat that."
Souza cited the Columbine High School shootings as an example of an ongoing, active situation where rapid deployment would prove useful, "not one that has become stagnant and can wait for a SWAT team."
Meanwhile, agencies are finding another advantage to carrying the rifles. Some, like the West Sacramento Police Department, are retrofitting their shotguns into "less-lethal" weapons that discharge pellet-filled beanbags, allowing officers to stun and disable a subject without firing bullets.
"It allows us another option," said Sgt. Ray Bombardier, head ranger master for the West Sacramento Police Department, where patrol officers began using AR15 rifles about two years ago.
In West Sacramento and other agencies with rural areas in their jurisdictions, the use of rifles is not entirely new. The California Highway Patrol has used them for years, as have certain officers with the Yolo County Sheriff's Department.
Criste said the use of rifles at his agency actually dates back to the early 1980s. Staffing was thin at the time, and some patrol officers -- especially those assigned to the county's large, rural beats -- carried rifles as an optional weapon.
"We realized there was something that was needed in addition to the handgun and shotgun," Criste said. Patrol deputies who passed an authorization course were allowed to purchase their own rifles and ammunition.
Today, "what you're finding is it's more accepted as an urban rifle," Waltz said. Criste said it was the North Hollywood shootings "that really underscored the need for law enforcement to have such a weapon."
So far, no agency in Yolo County has reported any of its officers firing one of the rifles in the line of duty. But, according to Waltz, a semiautomatic rifle recently was put to the test in Lodi, where a man led police on a pursuit out of Sacramento, then held his girlfriend hostage in an open field. Police eventually disabled the armed man from 50 feet away.
For those who view the use of rifles as a "militarization" of police, law-enforcement officials say that's not the intent.
"Using a rifle is no different than using a handgun or a shotgun. It's all deadly force," Woodland's Lt. Wilts said. "We're not increasing the force. It's choosing the right tool for the job."
In Woodland, Colt rifles have been issued to members of the investigations division, and the department hopes to deplo
[check message length]y the rifles in patrol vehicles by the end of August when the officers' training is complete, Wilts said.
Waltz said his department considers the rifles a useful tool to have given Davis' placement along Interstate 80, making it a stopping place for out-of-towners to commit crimes.
"The fact is, we have our fair share of bank robberies," Waltz said. Though they've been relatively rare and often nonviolent, "we live in a world of what-ifs, and we try to prepare for the worst-case scenario. All it takes is a well-planned bank robbery that includes susp
[check message length]ects that are trained in weapons and tactics, and the police are at a huge disadvantage."
-- Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected]
Here is the link.
