Police Forces Upgrading Their Firepower

(CBS)  When Broward Sheriff deputy Chris Caldwell patrols the streets of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he's armed with more than just the standard handgun.

His other weapon, an AR-15 - the civilian version of rifle carried by soldiers in Iraq.

"You have to up the ante a little bit; you don't want to go to a gunfight with a knife," Caldwell told CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Especially when the gun on the other end of the fight is an AK-47, favored weapon of terrorists and, these days, the common criminal - used to rob grocery stores and donut shops. Last month, one was used to shoot four Miami-Dade police officers during a traffic stop, killing one.

The Broward sheriff's office confiscated 25 of these weapons in a week's time. Two are versions of the AK-47. They're cheap, they're easy to get and they're powerful enough to pierce body armor.

Because of that, police are finding they have to upgrade their own arsenals. The guns usually seen in a SWAT officer's hand are now being given to beat officers in more than 20 departments around the country.

Miami's police chief is the latest to follow suit.

"I have an obligation to my police officers to make sure that they have an even chance," said Miami police chief John Timoney.

Yet in many departments there isn't enough money to arm the entire force. Many beat cops have to buy their own rifle at a cost of more than $1,000, while assault rifles are being sold for as little as $200 on the street.

Twenty five-year-old Grady owns both an AK-47 and an Uzi.

It can fire 600 rounds at the flick of a finger. In his neighborhood, Grady says it's the only defense.

"I need something that, when I pull the trigger, is going to spray," Grady said.

And it is set to automatic.

Caldwell knows a spray of bullets could be around the next corner. It's his assault rifle that gives him confidence he'll have a shot at survival.

[dez45-2009]

Gixman19,
While I agree with you regarding the support of law enforcement to have the tools necessary to do their job, this inaccurate and biased "news" promotion was designed to misinform, arouse fear and promote additional gun control measures. The points you make could have been objectively developed in a professional news piece. But it wasn''t. That is what most of the people here are concerned about, I believe.
I would like to add two additional comments about your post: First, the reference to ''police state'' by another poster is what I believe the anti-gun people will attempt in order to carry out their agenda as aided by Ms Couric''s propaganda. Secondly, as law enforcement has no responsibility to protect you from harm, you should also be acquiring the tools and skills to protect yourself and your family until the police arrive.

[mcapek]

There should be a "news malpractice"; deliberate distortion of facts and/or blatant incompetence
by the reporter should be punished. This reporter deserves to be fired.

[chrismatheni]

EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH FOX NEWS FROM NOW ON. AT LEAST THEY GET THEIR FACTS STRAIGHT. VOTE FRED THOMPSON 2008 !

[bp19591]

Katie,

You blew it on this one DO YOUR HOMEWORK CHICK!!!!!!
The Negro with the Uzi is labeled under the video that its an AK47??? Come on your more professional than that.

[scurtis_3447]

I have no problem allowing officers to have AR-15s. I am more concerned with this being used as an excuse to pass more laws that do nothing but disarm the law-abiding. As long as the police are held accountable for what they do, I have no problem with arming them well. They deserve that much.

[gixman19]

I usually have a problem with the way reporting is handled in the news. The other posts state there are problems with some facts presented. So be it. However, the focus of the story should not be ignored. Your men and women in policing that protect the population 24 hours a day are outgunned. It may be that only 3% of murders involve a rifle but that is 3% too many for any victim especially when that murder involves someone who dedicates their life to the public. Society should not allow the people who are interested in furthering their own criminal agendas outgun the ones we rely on to protect us. The police state may cometh but this may be necessary to get things back in order. I want to afford the officer the ability to go home at the end of their shift. I also want to provide the officer with the tools needed to protect me when I am in imminent danger.

[melodycpcu]

Amazing, do you people have no shame or integrity? You attempt to convince the general public that you offer facts, truth, balanced and accurate reporting. In reality you offer fiction, distortions and bold faced lies. This hatchet job you did is even a new low for you. I stopped watching your fantasies that you sleeze merchants attempt to pass off as reporting long ago, you spin every report to inflate a distorted agenda. Further allow your %u201CAnchors%u201D to make up lies to ruin the life of innocent people to the President.

Now you attack the Bill of Rights, in all cases your reports (I use the term loosely) are poorly thought out fabrications.

Just for teh record, the SKS rifle has never been manufactured in full automatic form. The AK-47 sold in the United States are not cheap, all sold are semi automatic, and would be impossible for anyone to have fired 600 rounds in one minute. Uzi sold here are also Semi Automatic, again 600 rounds, impossable.

Enough of your fabrications, I will look forward to the day CBS goes dark and we never hear another lie broadcast from this horrible excuse of a network. Perhaps the people you feel are so stupid, should petition the FCC to revoke the Broadcast licenses of every station nationwide that is one of you affiliates.

Personally will support the boycott of you local affiliate and the sponsors where I live. It would be a wonderful day when CBS is a just bad memory.

[themrmitch]

I am 65 years old and have NEVER seen a more blatant disregard for truth in the story of "Police Upgrading Their Firepower". Never.

Are you people for real?

[scurtis_3447]

Seldom have I seen a news organization get more things wrong in one story than CBS did in this one.

1. There is nothing extra powerful about the 7.62x39 round that AKs shoot. It is virtually identical to the .30-30 Winchester round commonly used in deer hunting. Virtually ANY rifle round will penetrate police body armor, which is only designed to stop handgun rounds.

2. Two of the rifles identified as AK variants were SKS rifles, which were used by the Russian army in WWII. They use a completely different design and no version of the SKS has ever been capable of full-auto operation.

3. The AK rifles available for civilian purchase in the U.S. are semi-automatic only. They are not machine guns. Inexpensive AK variants start around $400 and high-quality examples can cost closer to $800. The majority of the people who own them are law abiding people who use them for home defense, target shooting and even hunting (with a 5-round magazine).

4. The Uzi that idiot gangbanger was holding is not capable of "spraying" anything. It is a semi-automatic weapon.

5. There is no epidemic of gun violence. The FBI Murder by Weapon Type statistics show that rifles are only used in less than 3% of murders. More people are beaten to death with bare hands than are killed with rifles. More than twice as many people are stabbed to death than are killed with rifles and shotguns combined. Furthermore, the percentage of rifle murders actually went DOWN from 2005 to 2006.

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?