WA State Patrol SWAT gear stolen by criminals

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shooter429

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FYI-very disconcerting: fullly auto M4, flashbags and the usual assortment of goodies plus armor emblazoned with POLICE all over it.

a) I have known a few of these guys from county and state. The Staters I knew kept their vehicles and gear locked in a garage, when not on duty and vehicles locked on duty. *** happened?

I know higher ups encourage LEOS to keep cars visible for obvious reasons, but is it better to see your neighbor's patrol car in the driveway or to not see it and keep all the gear out of the hands of criminals.

b) auto rifles are all over gangland so another m-4 or 2 is prolly no difference, but I don't think SWAT vests are. Special ammunitions?

This is not the first time WSP has been hit. Why not change policies/enhance security measures to prevent this type of theft.

c) How can public trust police (in limited numbers, with this stuff on the streets). Now, if you are a BG, and an APC/response unit rolls up, you know its real. But what if you have just a couple "cops" at your door demanding entry?

Anybody currently working WSP, or even TCS/PCS/KCS (or any SWAT ?SERT/SRT officers, care to comment?

How can we know the blue light and uniform is for real? I know, most are, but now and then stuff goes down that is not umm, good for department image.

Concerned citizen

Shooter429
 
I think I recall hearing of something like this in the Cleveland area a while back . . . couple police uniforms stolen, and I think that even a patrol car was stolen.
 
The article

The article as reported on MSNBC

Tactical weapons stolen from WSP vehicle

By KING5.com Staff
KING5
updated 10:17 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 10, 2009

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Tactical weapons and equipment have been stolen out of a Washington State Patrol vehicle.

In an intelligence bulletin sent out by the Washington State Fusion Center and uncovered by KING5 News, authorities say that on March 6, someone broke into an unmarked WSP vehicle – a Ford Crown Victoria – while it was parked on the Capitol Campus near the State Legislative Building in Olympia.

The following weapons and police equipment were taken from the trunk of the vehicle:

-Colt M4 5.56mm Carbine (rifle) with fully automatic capability, equipped with a collapsible stock, grip light and sight

-H&K "Tactical" .40 caliber pistol, equipped withy an under-barrel laser and light device

Both these weapons were inside a black, hard-sided locked case.

-Safariland Level 3 vest with "Police" on the body and "Washington State Patrol" on the sleeves.

-Two noise/flash/diversion "Flash-Bangs" grenades

-Six loaded 30 round magazines for the 5.56 mm M4 rifle

-Five loaded 15 round magazines for the H&K .40 caliber pistol

-Maycom handheld portable radio

-ITT PVS-14 nigh-vision goggles

It appears that the WSP vehicle was specifically targeted.

Investigators found professional lock-picking tools left inside the trunk.

In addition, an attempt was made another WSP vehicle parked nearby.

The Washington State Fusion Center, also known as the Washington Joint Analytical Center, is where local, state and federal officials work closely together in gathering, analyzing and sharing intelligence information.

In the bulletin, the Center says it's aware of several similar cases in West Coast states where police vehicle, both marked and unmarked, were targeted for the weapons they may contain.

Detectives are concerned someone may want to impersonate a Washington State Patrol trooper.

"Someone walking around in a SWAT vest or a vest that says 'Police' or 'SWAT' and carrying weapons, call 911 because if it's an actual police emergency, 911 would be aware of it and if it's not, it needs to be reported to the 911 system," said Sgt. Freddy Williams, Washington State Patrol.
Click to expand...
 
A certain SWAT outfit here in San Antonio has locking chains welded to the inside of their trunks to avoid such tomfoolery.

You can only open the trunk enough to see the locks.
 
I won't get into cops being able to get FAs and the like...

but why did said officer take company property home with him?

I can not understand why any LEA lets thier officer take thier cars and other "tools" home with them.
 
Betcha they've been traded for a few hundred dollars worth of meth.
 
auto rifles are all over gangland so another m-4 or 2 is prolly no difference, but I don't think SWAT vests are. Special ammunitions?
Click to expand...

If full-auto weapons are "all over gangland" why don't we hear more about it? Truth be told, full-auto weapons are used in a tiny percentage of crimes, "gangland" or otherwise. Oh, let me guess....they "have" them, but continue to use cheap, widely availble pistols are their weapons of choice because they are "saving" their machine guns for something big?
 
The local media reported that the stolen M4 Carbine is "more accurate and powerful than anything available to the public"

Steve
Click to expand...

Yep... we get secret squirrel M-4s that are, well, secret. Watch any movie and you can see what a Law Enforcement M-4 will do. :p
 
while it was parked on the Capitol Campus near the State Legislative Building in Olympia.


wasn't at home pretty bold location too
 
If full-auto weapons are "all over gangland" why don't we hear more about it?
Click to expand...

I think we do hear of it pretty often, in the context of "police search discovered caches of drugs and weapons." Druggies love to have an arsenal, but mostly they do their mischief with concealable handguns.
 
Geeze, where to start...
I can't imagine they need flashbangs and night vision
Click to expand...
Either you are joking ( I hope) or you dont understand SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics). They conduct dynamic entries and use the flashbangs to temporarily stun suspects. Do you think most criminals hide in well lit areas during daylight hours? Cummon now.

If full-auto weapons are "all over gangland" why don't we hear more about it?
Click to expand...
I hear about it almost daily, especially in border towns. Do you really think the Mexican military and drug cartels carry Jennings .25s? Cummon now. They are not used as often as handguns for obvious reasons, but just because they are not in use, does not mean they are not there, or to put it another way "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

Shooter429
 
Not that it matters, but was the Sergeant in question detailed to a WSP SWAT unit? While he certainly may have been, the list of items stolen, with the possible exception of the distractionary devises, is not a list of equipment exclusive to SWAT unit membership. It appears more likley that the Sergeant was detailed to a WSP Special Operation Division, Executive Services division:

http://www.wsp.wa.gov/crime/sod.htm

"Not that it matters..."

I'd argue it does matter. A Trooper had his gear stolen. That is serious enough without clouding the issue further by labeling is SWAT gear, and being distracted by the inevitable anti-tactical team media, legislative and public (mis)perceptions. Just look at what it di to this thread...
 
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Well I guess I will be watching Ebay for those sweet NVG's I have always wanted. You know some retarded crook is going to put that "super accurate and all powerfull M4" in the local nickle adds.
 
Let's make sure we are not 'jumping the gun' on the story about
the M4 being "Full auto." Remember, the non-gunners think that
anything that just looks evil must be 'full auto.'
 
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