Sheriff’s Department upgrades firepower with assault rifles

Above, Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell holds one of 15 AR-15 assault rifles the department recently received from a military surplus program.

If a madman walks into a school and starts shooting, Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell wants his deputies to have the firepower to stop the shooter quickly.

Thanks to a military surplus program, deputies will be issued assault rifles over the next couple of weeks.

Monday afternoon, the sheriff’s department received 15 AR-15 rifles, which are commonly referred to as M-16 rifles, and two M-14 sniper rifles through the military’s 1033 equipment program.

"They are yours for the asking if you are a professional police department. We just covered the postage, which is about $500," Harrell said. "This is the weapon of choice when you have hostage situations, like in a school when you don’t want to use a shotgun or a pistol. We got these to make Whitley County a safer community. They are needed. It’s not to scare anyone."
Chief Deputy K.Y. Fuson said that for a situation like Columbine, you often don’t want to use a shotgun because you need precision when you fire.

"Everybody needs a patrol rifle any way," Fuson said. "For bad situations, like school shootings or something like that, these are just a must.

"Our policy is that we don’t wait for back-up if a school is being shot into. Whoever shows up first goes in. You need to have all the firepower you can have to be as accurate as possible in that circumstance."

Handguns are fairly accurate up to 15 yards, and officers train to use them up to 25 yards away.

Fuson said that the AR-15’s are accurate up to 300 meters with the open site, and the M-14’s are accurate up to 500 meters with the open sites.

With either rifle, from 25 yards a shot could be placed in a very specific location if necessary, Fuson added.
Harrell estimates that it will cost about $20 to convert each M-16 rifle from fully automatic to semi-automatic.

Fuson said that the only difference between the M-16 and AR-15 rifles, is that the M-16 is the military version that is fully automatic, and the AR-15 is the civilian version that is semi-automatic.

Each rifle is probably worth at least $2,000 each, Harrell estimates.

In terms of rifles, Harrell said his department only had one 223 rifle and no AR-15 or M-14 rifles when he assumed office on Jan. 2.

Harrell began efforts last year prior to taking office to get the military rifles for the department. He worked through a Kentucky State Police supply officer, who is the contact officer in Kentucky.

It took over six months to get the rifles delivered.

Fuson said that he has used the department’s only 223 rifle twice since Harrell’s administration took over.

"I haven’t had to shoot anybody, but I have been in that circumstance," Fuson said. "A hostage call, a suspect run off in the woods, these are the perfect weapons to use if you are going into the woods to try and chase somebody down, who is a dangerous  robbery or murder suspect."

Harrell said that the department probably wouldn’t be adding scopes for the rifles any time in the near future due in large part to the cost.

"Scopes are expensive. On our priority lists, scopes would be about mid-range," he said.

"What a scope would cost for that weapon would probably be more than what it cost us to get all these guns here," Fuson added.

Cpl. Ken Shepherd, who served as a sniper in the military during duty in Iraq, will be assigned one of the M-14 rifles.
Fuson said that most officers in the department are already trained in the use of the AR-15 rifles, and that officers, who haven’t been trained yet, soon will be.

"Before we issue these guns out, we will run them all through a range whether they are trained or not," Fuson said. "They have to be familiar with the weapon and set the sites on it."

The additional weaponry is needed so police can keep pace with the bad guys.

Harrell said that the only draw back to the 1033 military surplus program is that police departments can only apply for equipment every four years.

He said there is nothing specifically he can think of that the department currently needs from the military program.

"We’re not going to go out and order a Humvee and just park it outside. We have to have a need for that kind of stuff," Harrell added.

Tasers also needed

Harrell said that the next biggest need his department has is for Tasers, which are electric stun guns with a range of about 20 feet.

"We need some Tasers. We need some Tasers bad," he added.

The department currently only has three Tasers.

There is a grant program, which funds the purchase of Tasers for police departments, but the prior administration didn’t apply for Tasers for all officers the last time the grant window was open, Harrell said.

"You can order one for every man, but for some reason they didn’t," Harrell added.

Fuson estimates it will be another two years before the grant window opens again for the Taser program.

When the new justice center opens in September, Fuson said there would be five to six officers on duty there at any given time, and Tasers would be a safer alternative for officers working in that building to use, if they have to discharge a weapon.
Harrell estimates that the Tasers cost about $800 each.

The department currently has about 11 full-time officers, including Harrell and Fuson, and one part-time deputy.