by J.Libor Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:30 pm
'I didnt say I want an officer to take his rifle on a traffic stop. That was an example of how certain dept. have had to go to to keep officers safe. The problem with shotguns is short range, less penatration at distance. If I got a guy unload an Ak-47 on me from 50 yds out, I want to have a chance to stop him. I dont know how, honestly, that you could be against when 56 officers have died from gunfire this year. I believe that we will lose an officer from ERT or any surrounding agency if we arent able to defend our selves. If you didnt read the article, here is a few examples.
"Patrol officers started getting them after the country watched in horror in 1997 as televised footage showed Los Angeles officers fleeing from two bank robbers spraying bullets from assault rifles at a North Hollywood bank. Police handgun shots bounced off the robbers' body armor. Seven civilians and 11 officers were wounded.
More recently, a Miami-Dade, Fla., officer was killed during a traffic stop last September and three other officers wounded by a driver firing an assault rifle. The cops had only handguns.
Last weekend Chaska police stopped a driver who had illegal drugs, a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun under his seat and a bulletproof vest in his trunk, Knight said. In another recent example, Chaska officers responding to a domestic assault call found an assault rifle in the hands of a man high on drugs. And about three years ago, they encountered a gang member with a MAC-10 handheld submachine gun."-Startribune
The city of Chaska, is an average city in the suburbs of Minneapolis. It is an average town and they have pulled assualt rifles off guys there.
We will not be able to serve the public if we are dead or wounded. I know even with these guns, there is still a high chance of death if we are attacked, but it may give us an advantage. You guys are worried about making a good public image, well at least the average guy on the corner supported me and while I was gun down. We are to serve and PROTECT. I guarentee that it will be more than officer deaths in an attack. If we have to wait for a unit to be able to gear up, get en route, on scene, and able to take him down, many people can and would die.
The idea of having a gangster pulling an assualt rifle is bad enough, not being able to stop him because of body armour and being out gunned makes you wonder, not if you are going to die, but when.