The Guns of the Police

[Aaryq]

Howdy, folks.
When it comes to a police department's standard patrol division weapons, how are they regulated I'm assuming they don't have to worry about Class III or be Sec 922r compliant. But I'm trying to figure out how different it is from the civilian sector and/or PMC's like Blackwater or Sabre.

What about departments where officers are required to furnish their own weapons and the weapons the officer wants are Class III?

Could an officer or department call a company, for instance HK and tell them that they want 10 MP5's for official use and then the UPS Man shows up?

What about foreign firearms. For example, if Sheriff John Smith spent some time training with the Israelis or Ruskies when he was a younger man and wants to equip his deputies with real, no crap Uzi's or AK-47's could he get them imported? Since I'm on the topic of importation laws, what if the sheriff orders a few cases of saigas, keeps them in the factory condition and gives them out with US made "high capacity" magazines?

Thanks in advance

 

[Phil DeGraves]

What about departments where officers are required to furnish their own weapons and the weapons the officer wants are Class III?

I believe they could get it on "official letterhead", but then the gun becomes property of the agency when the officer retires.

 

[polizei36]

Our agency uses an official agency letter head and purchase order request, which has to have the CEO's singature on it for approval. ALL weapons are then delivered to the armory and become federal property once aquired. These weapons are also strickly delivered to the agencies physical address, no individual private addresses.

 

[Aaryq]

Polizei, may I ask to which agency you belong?

 

[contenderman]

There is no standard organizational table for law enforcement departments. Each can basically set their own, which can include approval of "personal weapons". Although I think it fair to say that the majority work in a similar fashion.

Small LE purchases can be made by departmental letter head and the shipment will be delivered to the department. Individual purchases can be made, but to get the LE discounts, or for items that are restricted to LE only an officer will need a letter on departmental letterhead supporting the purchase.

As for foreign weapons ... if there is no US based agent/dealer then I would surmise that standard import laws would have to be followed. However, I have never been involved with the purchase of arms or equipment that did not have a direct US representative/outlet, so you'll just have to wait and see if someone with that experience joins in the thread.

 

[Aaryq]

BTT for the night...please someone's got to have some info on the police

 

[bub]

It depends on the weapons the Dept wants to purchase. For automatic weapons, the Dept calls the Mfr or importer, Dept orders weapons, Dept jumps through any paperwork hoops the Mfr requires, Dept pays for weapons, weapons are delivered. Since the weapons would not be eligible for transfer to individuals, the weapons are Dept property. In other words, the weapons cannot go with the Officer when he retires or later be sold. Depts are not bound by 922r requirements, if a Dept wants to issue AK-47s or AK-74s or any other imported automatic weapon, all they have to do is find an importer and buy them. There was, at one time, a Sheriff's Dept in northwest OH that issued every Deputy a Glock 18, purchased directly from Glock (according to a Glock rep I once spoke to).

Another source for automatic weapons if the Fed Gov. There is a program where the Dept can get surplus M14s or M16s (I think 1911s were offered at one time, too) by filling out the required paperwork and sending it to the Fed Gov. Upon approval, the weapons would be transferred to the Dept but still remain Fed Gov property, kind of like the Lend-Lease Act with Great Britain during WWII. The weapons were subject to recall by the Fed Gov if they deemed it necessary and, of course, the weapons remained with the Dept if an Officer retired. Our local Sheriff's Dept got several M16s through this program for their SRT Team.

For handguns or semi auto rifles, the Dept can buy them directly from the Mfr for issue to the Officers. They pay a LOT less than you do due to the fact that Depts are exempt from the Fed Excise Tax that individuals have to pay. Provided they are legal in that location, these weapons can be gifted to an individual Officer upon retirement. Also, some Depts allow Officers to buy their old duty weapons when switching to new duty weapons. For example, the Ohio Highway Patrol allowed their Troopers to buy their S&W revolvers (M681s, IIRC) when they switched to autos for a nominal fee ($110 or $120, again IIRC). A different example, when one of our Sgts retired, the Dept presented him with the Dept issue S&W 5906 that he had carried for the last several years that he worked for the Dept.

For Officer provided weapons, they do just like individuals do, they go to a shop and buy them. Depending on the Dept, you can get letterhead and buy the weapon directly from the Mfr or a distributer for a discounted rate and skip the background checks (Glock does this, for example). With this option, the gun belongs to the individual Officer and he/she can do with it as they see fit if they later change weapons or retire. As an example, my Dept is fairly lax about what you carry, as long as it isn't single action only and meets the caliber guidelines. I carry a personally owned Glock 21 duty gun with a personally owned Ruger SP101 for backup/off duty use. These guns are owned by me and would go with me if I retire, quit or find another job somewhere. Hopefully, this will answer your questions.

Bub

 

[Aaryq]

Bub, you cleared up a lot of that for me. Thank you