LAPD Officers to Carry Assault Rifles
Fourteen months after the North Hollywood bank shootout, the Los Angeles Police Department next week will start arming officers with assault rifles, officials said Thursday.
Despite a donation of some 400 M-16 rifles last summer, LAPD officials said training and funding issues have delayed deployment of the weapons.
Most of those issues have been resolved, and nearly 90 police officers are ready to start using the high-powered rifles in the field.
LAPD officials said about 30 rifles will be sent into the field next week provided that the City Council formally accepts the donation--a technicality that still needs to be satisfied before the weapons officially can be used. The council’s Public Safety Committee has scheduled a special meeting Tuesday to accept the donation, which was arranged by Gov. Pete Wilson.
Cmdr. Dave Kalish, the LAPD’s spokesman, said the department initially will deploy 15 M-16 rifles to each of the four bureaus. More than 200 rifles are being given to the department’s elite Metropolitan Division, which includes SWAT.
“We wish we could have done it a little sooner, but it was a massive undertaking,” Kalish said. “We’re just glad to get these important weapons deployed.”
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