NEW WEAPONS TO GIVE POLICE MORE FIREPOWER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 7, 1992                   TAG: 9201070156
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
NEW WEAPONS TO GIVE POLICE MORE FIREPOWER
By early June, Roanoke police officers will be equipped with semiautomatic firearms that will enable them to fire more bullets faster than they can with their .38-caliber pistols.
George Snead, the city's director of administration and public safety, said Monday the new weapons will put police "on the same level as some criminals" who are now using semiautomatic guns.
The semiautomatic firearms will enable uniformed officers to fire 16 bullets without reloading, compared with six shots from their .38-caliber revolvers. Plainclothes officers will have weapons that can fire 14 shots without reloading.
The new firearms will enable police to better protect citizens and themselves, Snead said.
City Council voted Monday to award contracts totaling $141,180 for the semiautomatic firearms, holsters, ammunition and related supplies. The bill also includes the cost of training two officers to use the firearms, who will in turn will train other officers.
The net cost will be $121,180 because the city will receive $20,000 from the sale of the old pistols, Snead said.
Each officer will receive 16 hours of instruction before they begin using the new weapons. There will also be a four-hour refresher course after police have used the firearms for six months.
A committee composed of command and line officers in the Police Department recommended unanimously that the city switch to the semiautomatic weapons.
Most federal, state and local police agencies in the Roanoke Valley and elsewhere made the switch in recent years.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB