Police debate firepower options
By Bradford L. Miner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
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WEST BROOKFIELD— Some police departments swear by the 12-gauge shotgun as a backup to a service revolver, but others have abandoned the shotgun in favor of the patrol rifle.
And many departments have both, according to police chiefs in the region.
Recently, Police Chief C. Thomas O’Donnell and Officer Brice I. Leslie, a colonel in the Army Reserve who served 18 months in Iraq, convinced town voters to spend $6,510 to replace the department’s shotguns with eight AR-15/M-16 patrol rifles, a request that prompted considerable debate at this year’s town meeting.
Chief O’Donnell said yesterday that the debate came as no surprise.
“One’s point of view on shotguns versus patrol rifles may be simply a matter of timing; that’s to say, when one began his or her career in law enforcement,” the chief said.
“I had always favored the shotgun, but the more I researched the differences and the more I talked to Brice, who has more experience being shot at and returning fire than anyone else I know … the more it became evident the patrol rifle was a safer and more appropriate choice for today’s needs,” Chief O’Donnell said.
The shotgun has “its place” in a police department armory, he said, but the patrol rifle is more appropriate in a wider variety of situations.
“If a police officer is called upon to use deadly force, for the safety of the public, it has to be used with pinpoint accuracy,” Chief O’Donnell said. “The good thing about the patrol rifle is that it uses a .223 round. Most of its kinetic energy is spent when it hits the target, there is less recoil and less noise making it much easier for a police officer to stay on target, and not miss the target.”
The police chief said the shotgun is different. “Our short-barreled shotguns have much greater muzzle jump, decreasing their accuracy at anything but close range,” he said.
The chief said the department’s shotguns carry five rounds of ammunition, but the patrol rifle magazines hold 20 to 30 cartridges, so reloading is not as much of an issue.
“Mostly, however, our concern … is safety. And while I can understand some of the public’s concern over police departments having semiautomatic rifles, local police departments inevitably are first responders to incidents,” Chief O’Donnell said. “It may take the state police tactical operations team 45 minutes to get here. In some instances, we may not have 45 minutes.”
Ronald C. Glidden, chief of the Lee Police Department and chairman of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association Firearms Committee, said the organization has no position on shotguns versus patrol rifles.
“The committee looks primarily at legislative issues,” Chief Glidden said. “However, as a patrol rifle instructor at the police academy in Agawam, I can tell you there is increased interest among recruits in receiving patrol rifle training.”
Patrol rifles are more accurate, easier to train with, and typically more efficient and less of a danger to bystanders because of their accuracy.
Chief Glidden and Chief O’Donnell also dispelled a myth raised at the West Brookfield town meeting.
“The rounds from a patrol rifle in many instances have less penetration than some shotgun rounds,” Chief Glidden said.
One voter at town meeting asked what would happen if a patrol rifle slug missed its target, suggesting it could travel “for miles.”