Posted on 08/22/2013 2:20:05 PM PDT by RBW in PA
In Pocono Township, police officers are searching for a new way to make sure they are ready for any situation amid budget constraints.
Two officers approached Pocono Township Police Department Chief Phil Riley several months ago, questioning whether they could use their own privately owned firearms as patrol rifles on the job. Riley said the township is now considering an ordinance to cover the liability as it has not yet purchased enough rifles for every officer in the department.
Riley said the department has about five or six rifles for the 18-person force, which creates several safety problems.
These days, Riley said, a massive incident such as a barricaded suspect could be more dangerous if some officers are not properly equipped to neutralize the threat and prevent citizen or police casualties.
"You just want to be prepared because you never know what you're going to encounter," he said.
Riley said the discussion began before the Ross Township shooting on Aug. 5, where three people were killed. Riley views that as an anomaly, but the nature of incidents today means officers should be better prepared.
A second problem with having too few weapons to go around is that it decreases each officer's confidence in the firearm, which might be adjusted or sighted in for the last officer who used it.
That means in an important moment, a shot could be off by several inches from the intended target.
"It's kind of like a personalized thing," Riley said. "It's like a toothbrush. You like to have your own. Passing it around wouldn't be something you'd enjoy."
The township already allows officers to carry smaller privately owned back-up firearms, but the larger patrol rifles have not yet been approved. The solicitor and supervisors are working out the details of liability, but Riley said he is optimistic the board will approve the ordinance.
The supervisors will consider it at their Sept. 3 meeting.
Any privately owned weapon would need to be registered with the department and could not be modified in any way, Riley said.
He said he expects the township will approve the purchase of more patrol rifles over the next year or two, but the ordinance will help in the interim.
The difficulty is balancing expense to the taxpayer with department needs, he said.
"Tax dollars are tight," he said. "Everybody's trying to be responsible and not overspend."
Pocono Mountain Regional Police Chief Harry Lewis said in his department, officers are each assigned a patrol rifle or shotgun.
Capt. Brian Kimmins of the Stroud Area Regional Police Department said purchasing weapons has been part of an initiative staggered over several years and the vast majority of the 44-person department has a patrol rifle or shotgun.
"We're where we want to be," he said.
Kimmins said offenders are sometimes better equipped than they once were.
"It's not uncommon these days to be actually outgunned by an offender," he said.
But times have also changed drastically at police departments since the late 1980s, when Kimmins said he was only issued a .357-caliber Magnum revolver and handcuffs at the start of his career.
"We've definitely upgraded over the years."
Yeah, those snow boarders can be really tough.
With 18 cops, I’d bet that they have an MOU with the county that handles the high priority stuff. I’d like to see the crime stats and demographics in the place, see just how dangerous the place is.
There are enough deer hunters in that area that could end any situation a lot better and faster than the Dudley Do Right wannabe SWAT cops
Just more obama ass kissers who are attempting to fulfill his desire to build a civilian police force equipped as well as our military.
The dark lord told us he wanted this so why should anyone be surprised with more JBTs want to arm themselves with enough fire power to make us submit?
Just how much more must they tighten the noose before we act? Waiting too much longer we will not have any ability to act.
Close quarters?
Make mine a 12 gauge pump or autoloader.
Must be all those redneck NASCAR fans. Or those on the Lovers’ Getaway weekends.
Sure thing, Jim Bob... bring your M-203 right on down to the station for show and tell and just keep it in your cruiser... "just in case"... Oh and here's a couple of my spare 40mm WP rounds if those God-damned Tea Partiers get out of hand.
Some animals pigs are more equal than others.
If I were going to be a cop, I'd require a side arm, rifle, shotgun, and a goodly supply of ammunition for all. That's not too much to expect. All the armament and materiel of the average big city SWAT team? No, but a cop without the fundamentals will sooner or later be a cop in deep, dark, ugly trouble.
If people want a tough, dirty, often thankless job done, they need to pay for it.
I was opposed to all this arming of smaller cities and town police forces with more advanced weaponry.
I’m having second thoughts.
Yes, they will cause a lot of deaths, but for those of us who need and want real firepower, the closer it is to us, the easier it will be to obtain.
These faux LEO’s will be just doing their job, while we will be fighting for our families, our homes, our children’s future.
Not only will we be more determined, we are a lot smarter than the average LEO.
I know who I’ll bet on.
There are enough deer hunters in that area that could end any situation a lot better and faster than the Dudley Do Right wannabe SWAT cops
No SH*T!!!
The biggest problem that cops, and I was/am one of them, have today is that they think they’re the only ones that know how to use that stuff and the tactics needed. Well, I’m here to tell ya, I’ve been a firearms instructor for over 8 years. Most cops couldn’t shoot their way out of a wet paper bag. Sure, they can qualify, but even that is a chore for a lot of them.
Go to any shooting match around the country and you’ll see men, women and children that could outshoot damn near every cop in the WORLD, and most of them have normal day jobs. As for tactics, well, there’s a certain demographic in this country now thanks to the events of 9/11/2001, that know more about CQB and Fire& Maneuver than most cops in the country. And I’m not trying to be too judgmental, but I’m thinking this 18 person department isn’t exactly Delta Force.
Even the FBI finally realized their training was wrong for CQB as many were getting killed by the bad guys and adjusted their live firearms training from 25 feet to 3-5 feet.
Depends - some areas are safer than others.
Then you’ve got the rogue meth labs.
Sprinkle in a few oddball wackos.
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