TUSTIN : New Police Pistols to Be Paid for by City

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to pay for police officers’ semiautomatic weapons.

The police chief authorized use of the 9-millimeter guns in October, 1989, but officers who wanted them were required to buy them on their own. Standard issue equipment has been .357 revolvers.

“This is something that obviously we would have liked to have done back in October of last year, but the finances were not available then,” Tustin Police Capt. Steve Foster said.

The city will purchase the automatic pistols, holsters and ammunition pouches for officers who want them and reimburse the 45 officers who have already bought the weapons. Total cost will be between $60,000 and $65,000, Foster said.

The semiautomatic weapon increases the officer’s firepower, because the individual officer armed with one would normally carry 45 rounds--15 in the clip and two additional clips. The .357 pistol carries six in the cylinder and the officer would normally carry 12 more rounds in his ammunition pouches.

Most other police departments in the county pay for officers’ semiautomatic weapons, which load faster and smoother than revolvers, said Tustin City Councilman Jim Potts, a sergeant in the Irvine Police Department.

Potts suggested the policy after a resident wrote him a letter, contending that making officers pay for their weapons is like hiring a secretary and making her buy her own typewriter.