POLICE GET POWERFUL WEAPON: PATROL OFFICERS UP TO CHIEF TO HAVE M-4
RIFLES

EL PASO -- The El Paso Police Department on Wednesday unveiled its new
M-4 rifles intended to provide every officer with greater firepower.

The department bought 1,145 after approval by the City Council's 8-0
vote in January.

Training with the M-4 is under way at the Police Academy, and the new
weaponry will eventually be issued to every member of the department,
from patrol officers up to the chief.

"It's a safety issue," said Sgt. Lawrence Lujan, an instructor at the
academy. "The El Paso Police Department is catching up with the rest
of the nation."

The department invited news media to view a training session at the
firing range. The sound of gunfire rumbled off the mountain walls as
officers fired at targets 50 yards away at the academy on Scenic Drive.

Police agencies nationwide use the same type of semi automatic rifle,
giving officers a greater range and accuracy than handguns and
shotguns. El Paso police are also equipped with nonlethal weapons such
as Taser electric stun guns and shotguns that fire beanbags.

Police Chief Greg Allen and Assistant Police Chief Peter Pacillas told
the City Council that the potential for spillover violence from the
drug war in Juarez was one of the reasons the rifles are needed.

Cartels in Juarez "are carrying better weapons than law enforcement on
this side," Pacillas told council members. "They are using AK-47s and
other high-powered weapons. Also, .50 cals (rifles) and things of that
nature, fully automatic machine guns."

The city spent about $773,000 of federal stimulus grant money for a
bulk buy of the M-4s from GT Distributors of Austin. The firearms
arrived in April.

Police Academy officials said 20-hour training is being done first for
patrol officers in the field, followed by detectives, supervisors and
administrators.

The rifle fires a .223-caliber bullet and can be used in close-quarter
and long-range situations. The weapon will be locked inside police
vehicles and used in high-threat incidents. Officials said moving to
the rifle is part of the evolution in police weapons. El Paso moved
from revolvers to semi automatic handguns in 1989.

The M-4, similar to a civilian type of M-16 rifle, can be bought by
the public at gun stores.

Officer Joe Baur, a Northeast patrolman and retired military
policeman, was among those taking part in M-4 training Wednesday. Baur
said there was talk that officers would get M-4 rifles since he joined
the department 13 years ago and that the M-4 is welcome in the police
arsenal.

"You are outgunned by what the criminals carry," Baur said.