IPD Officers Getting High-Powered Assault RiflesDepartment Receives 200 M-16 A-1 Assault Rifles

heindychannel ^ | August 14, 2003

[InvisibleChurch]

TheIndyChannel.com IPD Officers Getting High-Powered Assault Rifles Department Receives 200 M-16 A-1 Assault Rifles

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Police Department has a new high-powered weapon in its arsenal after taking possession of more than 200 M-16 A-1 assault rifles this week.

The rifles will be selectively deployed throughout the force, RTV6's Jack Rinehart reported.

Police say the weapon is more powerful, more accurate and gives an officer a greater chance for survival on the streets.

"It would give the patrol officer an opportunity to respond with a level of force equal to any civilian counterpart," IPD firearms instructor Lon Harness (pictured, below) said.

In the past year, Indianapolis police officers have seized more than 200 illegal, but similarly-sized weapons from the street, Rinehart reported.

IPD officers have also come under attack at least six times from suspects armed with assault-style weapons in the past year. Almost two years ago, Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Baker was killed while the suspects held two police agencies at bay for hours with an assault rifle.

"It gives the guys an opportunity to do something that they might not otherwise be able to do with their pistol," Officer James Gray said.

Each shift and policing district will have the rifles available around the clock. Officers on the beat will use them to defend themselves and the public in situations where suspects are actively shooting.

"What did we learn at Columbine? The police show up, they do a perimeter, and they wait for SWAT to come up. Now SWAT has excellent response time, but when you have people actively being killed on the inside, we have to move," IPD Chief Jerry Barker said.

Not every officer will get a rifle. Barker said the department will go through a careful selection process looking for officers who combine good judgment with proficiency with a firearm, Rinehart reported.

The rifles should be on the street by the end of the year.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

**The LA cops could not shoot for beans***

Bayonetes! Clinton gave them m-16's and Bayonets!

[Shooter 2.5]

I really don't mind they're getting these.

I just wish they would be subject to the same consequences as the public when it comes time for a review of a shooting.

[Blood of Tyrants]

"What did we learn at Columbine? The police show up, they do a perimeter, and they wait for SWAT to come up.

What anyone with an ounce of sense learned is that the police don't give a damned about your children. Dillon and Klebold murdered 13 people while the police crouched behind their cars and did nothing.

[Blood of Tyrants]

P.S. One trained and armed person could have easily taken these two on yet the police hid.

[Centurion2000]

Hmmm ... and one dedicated RKBA 'criminal' with a Garand or M1-A 308 scout rifle will still make mincemeat of them.

Never forget that citizens with arms outnumber the military and cops almost 100 to one.

[TexasCowboy]

"the police don't give a damned about your children."

I have to disagree with that statement.
Our laws and courts have hamstrung our police departments to the extent that they can no longer do their job.
I'm not surprised at the resentment shown by our police departments toward the very civilians they are duty bound to protect.
If a cop even fires his weapon, no matter what the circumstance, he is under scrutiny from Internal Affairs, and his ass is on the line, not to mention the mounds of paper work he must fill out to justify it.
There are procedures that each cop must follow, and some of this "fear" can be translated as hesitancy to depart from procedure which he is ordered to obey.

I see nothing wrong with police departments having M-16s, and I see nothing wrong with civilians like you and me having M-16s.

[ironwill]

What would happen if the police force was made up of people like us? Do you think things would be different? Just wondering out loud...

[punster]

"After the Bank Robber shootout in LA a few years ago when cops faced robbers in body armour, all police cars should have a decent rifle in the trunk."

Good point.

My observations would include:

1. Have the rifle more accessible. It doesn't do much good locked away in the trunk, if a tight situation develops.

2. Even a good bolt-action hunting rifle would be entirely satisfactory. Why? big game cartridges, such as 30/06,.270, .300 Mags, etc., are much more powerful than the .223 REM (aka 5.56 x 45). They are certainly much more likely to punch through body armor.

3. A big problem with the police is training and attitude. Some of them do not take combat training seriously, there is a lot of it will never happen to me. When it does, there is to much of a panic reaction.

4. For urban usage in peacetime, a simple self-loading rifle is much better. There is not as much need for extensive training on how to control the firearm.

[xm177e2]

If more than 2 or 3 of these EVER get fired in an actual police operation, I'll eat my shorts.

I think you mean "If more than 2 or 3 of these EVER get fired in an actual police operation in which it is acutally appropriate to use them instead of handguns and shotguns, I'll eat my shorts."

Otherwise, I look forward to watching you eat your shorts.

[Blood of Tyrants]

If they cared, why did they hide behind their cars? They were hamstrung by FEAR.

I DO see something wrong with the police having M-16's when they are not available to the general public.

[Little Ray]

Since when did M-16s become "high power." Jeez, what morons the jouralists be.

If they really want to shoot through body armor, I recommend an M1 Garand. Level IIa ain't gonna stop a 30-06...

[Little Ray]

Uh, journalists...

[templar]

Indianapolis PD has no need whatsoever for 200 of these weapons.

Unless, maybe, they know someting we don't.

[Djarum]

If more than 2 or 3 of these EVER get fired in an actual police operation, I'll eat my shorts.

If you've got a hammer, you don't necessarily need a nail.

[Capt.YankeeMike]

ref: your post #7. I would prefer a nice .243 or heck even a 30-06 or 7mm Remington with a nice scope....from say a safe distance of 250 yards....

[TERMINATTOR]

Yeah, 5.56 NATO is a gopher round. .30-06 penetrates stuff! Especially those black tipped AP rounds.

It sure would be nice if the JBT's quit infringing on our civil rights, and made M14's available through the CMP.

[Joe Brower]

"What would happen if the police force was made up of people like us?"

Gee, I thought they were. At least, I've never seen any cops with halos above their heads, or didn't bleed red just like us commoners. $;-)

As an "ordinary citizen", in my lifetime, I've engaged in two on-foot felony pursuits, once conducted a citizen's arrest, and twice successfully defended myself using a firearm. I've also wrestled a dirtbag or three in my day. In none of those cases did I do anything better or worse than if I was wearing a badge, except of course, I lacked the taxpayer-sponsored protections that the men in blue enjoy.

As a career, though, I could never be a *real* cop -- I couldn't bring myself to enforce the multitude of laws and regulations that I know to be simply malum prohibitum.

[Mulder]

The militarization of our local police forces continues. You have to love all the arguments presented to validate this. Yeah, any excuse will do. Of course, those same reasons lose all validity when applied to us peons. Are we noticing a pattern here?

When the people are banned from having the same small arms as the police and military, you have tyranny.

The 2nd amendment was written to prevent that from happening, but treasonous politicians have acted to subvert the Constitution.

As for the police having taxpayer funded assault rifles, I am totally against the idea.

If an individual police officer wants one, he or she should have to purchase it on their own dime, and be subject to the same laws as we peasants are concerning type of weapon, transportation in a vehicle, brandishing, and use of force.

[TEXASPROUD]

I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. Twenty three years ago when I was with the Sheriff's Office in New Mexico myself and my partner had 2 12 ga shotguns, 2 AR-15's, and 2 Rem 700 BDLs in .308. Now they were personal weapons, but we qualified with them and kept them in the patrol car. We had everything covered, and if we had a problem, we had a bunch of New Mexico cowboys to help us out with the problem.
Damn, things have changed.

[Mulder]

Have the rifle more accessible. It doesn't do much good locked away in the trunk, if a tight situation develops.

If "we the people" have to carry it locked in a truck, so should they. The law should apply to everyone the same.

Even a good bolt-action hunting rifle would be entirely satisfactory.

No arguement there. Although in fairness, I should state that that overpenetration might be a concern. Apparently, a .223 round will overpenetrate less than a 9mm, which is one reason a lot of the SWAT teams are going to .223.

A big problem with the police is training and attitude.

Exactly. Those officers who should have semi-auto rifles on the job are the ones who already have them at home, but are prohibited from having them in their crusier due to "policy". Those who don't have them already are likely to be overconfident with the rifle, and believe they are above the law with regards to brandishing, use of force, stray rounds, etc.... (on a side note, this does appear to be the case)

The result of putting rifles into the hands of the latter group will only result in incidents like the FBI agent shooting a kid up in Baltimore, or shootings where the PD expends hundreds of rounds, with zero or few hits.