O.C. Arming Deputies With Assault Rifles

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has begun outfitting officers with assault weapons so they can better deal with heavily armed suspects like the one who killed a deputy last year.

Officials said the AR-15 assault weapon gives deputies more firepower during the critical early moments of a confrontation and is designed to deal with the admittedly slow response of the department’s SWAT team.

So far, 52 specially trained deputies have received the weapons and carry them in the trunks of their patrol cruisers, officials said. The department is considering plans to arm all 468 patrol officers with the rifles.

The Colt AR-15 is the civilian version of the M-16, which the U.S. military used in the Vietnam War. While the M-16 is automatic, the police version of the AR-15 is semiautomatic, meaning it fires one shot each time the trigger is pulled. It has more rounds in the magazine and a longer range than the 12-gauge shotguns now used by deputies.

“If you’re a bad guy, you don’t have to get through [deputies] with a shotgun and a peashooter; you have to get through three guys with AR-15 assault weapons,” said Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo.

Officials acknowledged that the measure is a “Band-Aid” to offset the slow response times of the department’s SWAT team. The team takes an average of two hours to reach emergency scenes, far slower than other local teams, Jaramillo said.

Unlike teams in other departments, Orange County’s SWAT team members are across the county and must be called together in Santa Ana. Officials said this assembly time adds crucial minutes to the team’s response.

By contrast, Los Angeles County’s SWAT team has an average response time of 30 minutes, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Michael Irving said.

Police say they are encountering more suspects with high-powered weapons, including the AK47-wielding man accused of killing deputy Brad Riches in a Lake Forest ambush in May. The suspect sprayed bullets at the deputy’s parked car before Riches could even draw his weapon.

A year earlier, a gunman at the Orange Caltrans headquarters fired more than 300 rounds from an assault weapon, killing five workers and wounding a police officer armed with a revolver and shotgun.

In 1997, LAPD officers watched in horror as rounds from their handguns bounced harmlessly off body armor worn by two robbers brandishing assault rifles. In the wake of that clash, several police departments, including the LAPD, upgraded their firearms.

“We’re now in an era when the criminal element is as sophisticated as the cops,” said Sgt. Wayne Quint, president of the Deputies Assn. of Orange County. “The means of violence is becoming more and more sophisticated and we need weapons that put us on a level playing field.”

Adding high-powered weaponry to police arsenals has been criticized by some civil libertarians, who say assault weapons are sometimes harder to handle and pose a serious threat to public safety. Others question the need for greater firepower when the crime rate is low. Since 1993, the number of crimes in Orange County is down 30%, and murders have dropped by half.

“Why is everyone so anxious to do things that could lead to dangerous situations for innocent people?” asked Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California.

Some police agencies have come to a similar conclusion. In Garden Grove, officers advised the department against moving toward the AR-15. Instead, they suggested using large shotgun slugs against suspects wearing body armor.

“They felt that for patrol purposes it was safer and more reliable,” said Garden Grove Police Capt. Dave Abrecht. “The concern with the AR-15 is the bullet going through three different walls and hitting someone.”

Sheriff’s Department officials are continuing to study all safety issues but said they are acutely aware of the rifle’s power. To that end, the department is using a bullet that will not penetrate brick walls and other hard surfaces.

Most agencies have embraced more powerful weapons as a necessary evil given the firepower that criminals are using. In Santa Ana, 50 patrol officers carry AR-15s in the trunks of their cruisers. Every officer in the city’s Police Department is also trained to use a 12-gauge shotgun and a Ruger .40 caliber rifle, said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Raul Luna.

Tustin spent $70,200 to equip every one of its Police Department’s 27 patrol cars with an AR-15.

At the Sheriff’s Department, officials are studying the cost to allocate more assault weapons to deputies. Each costs up to $1,000, and training can be expensive, Assistant Sheriff Jaramillo said.

While the analysis continues, the deputies with the AR-15s will constitute a special team designed to take control quickly until the SWAT team arrives.

Jaramillo said the department is satisfied with the work of the SWAT team members. But he said the department wants to revamp the operation so that the team can get into the field much more quickly.

Officials cited no cases where slow SWAT response caused problems. They said it is clear, though, that the system can be improved.

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More Firepower

Specially trained sheriff’s deputies will carry AR-15 rifles. The differences between the standard shotguns they carry and the AR-15:

* Shotgun up to 50’ range

* Shotgun holds 6-8 rounds; shoots multiple pellets. 1 foot spread at a distance of 25 feet.

*

* AR-15* 200’+ range *used when more than 200 ft. away

* AR-15 holds up to 30 rounds; shoots single bullets.

Source: Jay Wachtel/Cal State Fullerton Criminal Justice