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Chattanooga Police take aim at today's heavily armed criminals... Arming Patrol officers with what they call Urban Rifles.
Chattanooga Police Lt. David Roddy says, "We've had everything from SWAT calls to search warrants to patrol calls and everything else where we're finding assault type weapons or high capacity type weapons in the suspects hands."
Roddy says the handguns and shotguns police have been armed with in the past are no longer the best choice, "Workplace violence and school violence weren't a thing that we had to contend with when these weapons systems were brought about. We have to be as progressive as we're seeing the criminals become."
The Bushmaster .223 caliber rifles are accurate and effective well over 400 yards.
The .223 rounds are designed to shatter on impact and lessen the chance a bullet will ricochet or pass through walls.
Roddy says, "The likelihood of injuring any innocent bystanders having to engage a suspect, we've reduced, we've taken it off of our radar."
The department purchased the weapons with seized funds, they cost around $700 a piece.
So far the department has 100 of the new firearms, 150 more are on the way.
The guns are stored behind triple locked security in the trunk... and would be used in active shooter, or homicide in progress situations.
Roddy says arming patrol officers with these rifles levels the playing field between the first officers on a scene and the criminals they fight against, "It's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."
The first batch of urban rifles will be on the streets this weekend.
All 100 rifles are expected to be out within the next 5 weeks.
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