TROOPERS WELCOME FIREPOWER

Montgomery-based state troopers don't know how many of 130 new trooper
rifles they'll get, but they say the need is there for more weapons to
fight increasingly challenging criminals.

Lt. Robert Goodner, commander of the troopers' Montgomery district, which
includes Montgomery, Lowndes, Elmore, Autauga and Chilton counties, said
criminals often have superior weapons and even wear body armor at times.

"There's always been that inherent risk in what we're doing. ... Now that
risk is even greater," said Goodner.

The concern with the evolution of criminals is on the minds of all troopers
and was evidenced in a recent question that Col. Mike Coppage, the
Department of Public Safety director, posed to the troopers he commands.

When Coppage asked the troopers what they needed most, he said they told
him "some kind of long gun."

Last month, Gov. Bob Riley awarded DPS a $92,576 grant for new weapons.
Within a year, at least 130 troopers statewide should be able to carry a
rifle in addition to a shotgun and a pistol.

"They (troopers) have the potential to be called to support any type of
local agency," said Coppage, responding to a question about how often
troopers, whose main job is to patrol, find themselves in situations where
a rifle might be a necessary defense.

Coppage said decisions about which troopers will get rifles haven't been
made yet, but priority would be given to officers in rural areas.

"The potential is there every day. ... We have an obligation to properly
equip our officers," Coppage said.

Goodner, the Montgomery headquarters commander, said the area around
Montgomery has criminal activity in which weapons and drugs go hand-in-hand.

"There have been in the local area illegal narcotics trafficking, where the
criminal element had automatic weapons," he said.

Riley awarded the weapons grant from funds made available through a U.S.
Department of Justice program.

"State troopers risk their lives every day to protect the people of
Alabama," Riley said.

Coppage emphasized that while troopers carry Glock .40-caliber
semiautomatic pistols and shotguns, they may need rifles in situations in
which they confront a sniper who is firing a weapon from a great distance.

Or, Coppage said, troopers might back up a local sheriff's department on a
domestic violence call where the aggressor has a high-powered rifle such as
an SKS or AK-47, and troopers need to take up positions a safe distance
away from the shooter.

"There are certain situations where rifles are more suitable," he said.

DPS officials also say the rifles will help protect officers carrying out
homeland security responsibilities and those conducting raids of illegal
methamphetamine labs.

The rifles also will provide extra security for troopers who patrol
roadways alone.

Martha Earnhardt, a trooper spokeswoman, said about 330 troopers patrol
Alabama roadways and about 30 troopers work out of the post in Montgomery.

Coppage said the Department of Public Safety has not yet determined which
type of rifles will be purchased.

He said DPS officials will begin by looking at the types of rifles
available from manufacturers and then put the purchase up for bid.

Coppage said troopers are facing increasingly more dangerous criminals who
themselves are armed with rifles.

"It's just unfortunately a trend ... (and) long guns are very cheap, very
plentiful," said Coppage, who was Birmingham's police chief for five years
before taking the DPS director post.