MONTEBELLO POLICE UPGRADE ARSENAL

Chief Says Officers Will Be Better Prepared For Potential Incidents
With New Rifles, Pistols And Armor.

MONTEBELLO--Citing events like the 1997 North Hollywood bank robbery,
Montebello police officers convinced the City Council to arm them with
AR-15 rifles, a scaled-down version of the M16 rifle.

The council also approved funding at its Jan. 4 meeting to upgrade the
department's side arms and protective vests.

Following the lead of other law enforcement agencies such as the Orange
County Sheriff's Department, which recently purchased high-powered rifles
like the ones Montebello is soon to get, Montebello Police Chief Garry
Couso-Vasquez said the new weapons will put Montebello on the cutting edge
of law enforcement as well as increase officer safety. He said the rifles
should be in patrol cars by the end of February or at the beginning of March.

"North Hollywood was a wake-up call to be prepared," said Couso-Vasquez,
who was hired in May. "I'd rather have it and not need it than not to have
it and need it."

The council previously agreed to allow the Police Department to use drug
forfeiture funds -- money that departments receive annually based on the
amount of drugs, weapons and other contraband seized that year -- to
purchase the rifles, pistols and soft body armor vests.

Montebello currently has $4 million in forfeiture money, which can only be
used for drug and gang enforcement. The council, which originally agreed to
use $23,700 from that fund for the purchase of the Bushmaster rifle,
awarded the purchasing bid to Bumble Bee Wholesale, located in North
Hollywood, which will sell the city the 91 rifles at a cost of $581.05. The
department also will purchase 40 magazines that hold 20 rounds for $9.95
per magazine. Because the cost of the purchases is lower than what was
originally allocated, the remaining funds will be put back into the
forfeiture account.

Montebello currently has weapons similar to the AR-15 rifles, but those
weapons are reserved for the city's special operations unit. The rifle
touts high accuracy and the ability to pierce through body armor, such as
the ones used in the North Hollywood incident.

Also, the department will use $104,300 to purchase new pistols. The
department, which has been using Smith & Wesson 645 pistols, will upgrade
to H&K .45-caliber pistols, which come in two sizes to fit the hands of
officers. The council said it will purchase 150 of those pistols from the
La Habra-based gun distributing company Divine Firearms for $561.95 a
pistol and $589.95 for a compact, which includes night sights and three
magazines. The department recommended this company because it offered a
cash trade-in for its Smith & Wessons to make up for the rest of the cost.

The soft body armor, which had been allocated $62,800 from the forfeiture
fund, will be purchased from local company Adamson Industries at $630 per
vest. Couso-Vasquez said the department entered into a one-time federal
reimbursement program that will pay approximately half of the cost. The
money left over will go back to the forfeiture fund. Although the soft body
armor offers the same protection as the ones currently in use, they are
lighter and give officers more mobility.

Couso-Vasquez, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Department's SWAT
team, said though Montebello has never faced an incident that called for
high-powered rifles or more accurate side arms, there have been several
incidents where such weapons could have been used to put more distance
between officers and suspects.

"The main goal is to increase morale," he said of his eight-month time as
chief, during which he has hired eight additional officers to the force. "I
believe I have done that.

"The better the morale of the organization, the better the service. The
better you take care of the officers, the better the officers take care of
our customers."