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Police arm themselves with high-powered rifles

More than 100 St. Petersburg officers have ordered assault rifles.

By ALEX LEARY
Published April 25, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - In November of 2002 a Ruskin man stole a truck and threatened its owner with an assault rifle. He then led Hillsborough sheriff's deputies on a half-hour chase, firing at them along the way.

Six months later, a man hiding in a patch of woods in east Pasco County fired an assault rifle at a sheriff's cruiser, killing a popular deputy.

Earlier this month, a man stood outside a St. Petersburg day care waving an assault rifle and yelling threats to his girlfriend inside. The staff locked the doors and huddled children in closets.

High-powered rifles are increasingly visible in the Tampa Bay area, and with the expiration of a 10-year ban on their sale, law enforcement agencies fear they will see more.

So they are enhancing their own firepower. In recent years, Tampa police and deputies in Hillsborough and Pinellas started carrying assault rifles.

Now, St. Petersburg patrol officers are equipping themselves with Colt AR-15s - the same weapon U.S. troops carry in Iraq, only semiautomatic. The bullets can travel up to 2,700 feet per second and are powerful enough to penetrate body armor.

"St. Petersburg, it's not so sleepy anymore," said Tom Jacwin, a 22-year veteran who was at the firing range recently, getting used to his new weapon. "The bad guys are smarter and better armed."

The first group of officers completed the required 16 hours of instruction in late January; more than 100 - roughly a fifth of the total force - have ordered the rifles so far, exceeding department expectations. Use is optional.

Officers say the rifles provide a layer of comfort, even if they have not had to fire a single shot beyond the practice range.

"The situation in the world has changed," said police Chief Chuck Harmon, citing Columbine and other school shootings, the threat of terrorism and local concerns.

One of the selling points was an April 2003 shootout in which a bullet from an SKS assault rifle grazed officer Tim Virden in the head as he chased gunmen wanted in a series of drive-by shootings, one fatal.

The bullet, fired from a speeding car, sailed through the windshield, grazed Virden, then pierced the Plexiglas prisoner barrier and blew out the rear window. Virden stopped the shooters only after ramming his car into theirs.

"Let's say those guys pulled over. They are shooting a weapon with a range of 300 yards," said Sgt. Phil Quandt, Fraternal Order of Police representative. "We're shooting a weapon with an effective range of 25 yards. Assault rifles would have evened the field considerably."

Harmon approved use of the Colt AR-15 last June but called for guidelines that took months to develop. A rifle may be used, the guidelines state, when an officer is confronted "with a high-risk situation such as to overcome suspects with superior firepower; in response to an active shooter situation; when confronted by barricaded subjects; during stakeout and perimeter operations; for felony vehicle stops."

The weapons must be kept in a hard case in the trunk of a squad car unless one of the situations above arises. The rifles cannot be displayed for intimidation purposes. They cannot be modified to allow automatic fire and must be inspected annually by the department armorer. Officers must also qualify in the shooting range each year.

Perhaps most significant, officers must purchase the rifles and equipment themselves. AR-15s cost $1,100; the hard case runs about $100; and ammunition goes for $250 a box, though rounds used on duty are provided by the department.

"$1,100 wasn't really in the budget," said Jacwin, who is 48 and three years from retirement, "but my wife said if it's going to make you safer and better prepared, then do it."

The rifle's .223 caliber bullets are like a ".22-caliber on steroids," said training officer Paul Grata. They are referred to as soft point rounds, meaning they expand quickly on impact. "It'll stop after penetrating 11 inches," Grata explained.

That's meant to counter one of the criticisms of assault rifles. Critics say the bullets travel at such velocity they pose a threat to bystanders if they sail through an intended target.

Advocates say assault rifles offer several advantages. With a range of 300 yards, they are vastly better than the standard Glock handgun officers carry, which have a range of 25 to 50 yards.

Rifles are more accurate, police say, than Remington pump-action shotguns (normal range of 50 to 75 yards) the department makes available. A shotgun holds five rounds, while each officer can carry two 20-round magazines for the assault rifle.

* * *

In adding assault rifles, the St. Petersburg Police Department has joined a legion of other agencies nationwide, from Erie, Pa., to Portland, Ore. Precise figures are not maintained, but the practice seems to be growing.

"Without a doubt, there are thousands and thousands of departments carrying patrol rifles at this point," said Emanuel Kapelsohn, vice president of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors.

Kapelsohn resists calling them "assault" rifles, saying the word gives a negative connotation. But whatever they are called, the rifles have drawn opposition, nationally and locally.

"Our cities are not combat zones, but when you arm the police with assault rifles, you run the risk of turning them into combat zones," said Tom Diaz, senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. "I doubt there very many communities outside Iraq where you need that kind of firepower."

Diaz, author of Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America , said much of the trend has to do with marketing. In the 1980s, agencies felt compelled to upgrade standard revolvers with semiautomatic pistols, he said, after one manufacturer, Beretta, landed a high-profile contract with the military. In the 1990s, there was another movement to higher caliber bullets.

"We call it a spiral of lethality," Diaz said. "It sounds very simple: The bad guys have these guns, we need them, too," Diaz said. "It's not really that simple."

It's difficult to accurately gauge how many assault rifles police here encounter. From 2001 to June 2002, police say they recovered 34 such firearms, mostly AK-47s.

Current statistics were not available.

Victoria Schaus, co-chairwoman of the Civilian Police Review Committee, which looks into citizen complaints against officers, thinks more focus should be placed on getting assault rifles out of the hands of criminals, not engaging in an arms race.

"I want the officers to be safe," she said, "but it appalls me that this is what we've come to. It's very sad and frightening."

Chief Harmon said the reality is that such efforts, while worthwhile, will never be fully successful. "So we have to keep up with what's going on with the world."

--Alex Leary can be reached at 727 893-8472 or leary@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 25, 2005, 01:04:14]