LAPD to Get 600 Surplus M-16s From U.S. Army
The Los Angeles Police Department soon will get 600 surplus M-16 rifles from the U.S. Army, Interim Police Chief Bayan Lewis announced Tuesday. The city will pay $13,458 for the cost of transporting them from a storage depot in Alabama.
Officers should have them in a few weeks, Lewis said.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. July 31, 1997 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday July 31, 1997 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 3 Metro Desk 2 inches; 38 words Type of Material: Correction
Police weapons--A report in Wednesday’s editions of The Times incorrectly reported the number of Los Angeles police officers who have undergone training in the use of semiautomatic rifles. About 500 supervisors have received eight hours of classroom orientation.
The rifles will be distributed among the department’s sergeants, and will be used under their supervision.
LAPD spokesman Lt. Anthony Alba said line officers have long complained that they sometimes find themselves outgunned by criminals, such as the pair in the nationally televised North Hollywood bank robbery earlier this year who, armed with fully automatic rifles, exchanged fire with officers armed with pistols and shotguns. Police finally overcame the robbers after borrowing high-powered rifles from a nearby gun store.
“That was like a big ‘I told you so,’ ” Alba said.
Because of the weapons’ firepower, there has been much debate over whether they pose a danger to bystanders or other unintended targets. Alba said weapons training deals with that problem. About 700 officers have undergone training.
Alba said the weapons will be modified from fully automatic to semiautomatic.
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