Hard on the heels of news that Amtrak police have purchased 100 Bushmaster M4-Type Patrolman’s Carbine rifles comes word that the Maryland-National Capital Park Police are down for 17 of the same. They’ll use them to protect 400 parks, 100 miles of trails, 219 playgrounds and [an unstated number of] swimming pools, campgrounds, golf courses, horse stables, soccer stadiums, and stream valleys. “We are grateful to have the Maryland-National Capital Park Police and other agencies in the D.C Metropolitan regions of Maryland and Virginia, selecting Bushmaster rifles for their departments,” stated Rick Johnson, Director of Law Enforcement sales for Bushmaster, a division of The Freedom Group, headed by former Home Depot and Chrysler CEO Robert “I drive a Prowler” Nardelli. Given that the M-NCPPC employs 95 sworn officers (vs. 450 Amtrak po-po), the odds of encountering a rifle-wielding member of either force are roughly the same. How reassuring is that?
Sounds like Bushmaster’s new business plan involves arming all the nimrods in America who are trying to pass themselves off as real police.
Hey, Bushmeister, there are ten school crossing guards in my town who could really use some firepower. Call me.
These guys are “real police”. They do the same training as every city and county cop in the state and have the same arrest powers.
Educate yourself.
I dunno. I’m against militarizing the police as much as the next guy. On the other hand, we’ve been hearing a lot of reports lately about how the police don’t always shoot very straight. I figure a cop is lot less likely to hit someone with a stray round if he’s using a rifle.
Or they’ll, unintentionally, hit folks who are farther away (and on the other side of more walls).
Maybe I should add that police departments frequently buy guns and then sell them back at reduced prices (why, I don’t know). I recently bought a practically new SIG for half-price because it was a police trade-in. This might turn out to be a good thing.
Uh, what exactly is the “Maryland-National Capitol Park Police”? That sounds like three different entities. There’s the Capitol Police, the NPS LEOs, and neither have anything to do with the state of Maryland.
this is interesting that a LEO group in my county is jumping on the bushmater train, TTACer, these are a group of park cops…. yep they guard parks and recreation areas in pg county, MD. In the “inside the beltway” areas of my county, there is a fairly substanital gang presence, including good old ms-13 in the Latino areas.With this in mind, combined with the advantages of having a park in an urban area in the dark for nefarious activities by these gangs, i could justify this acquisition.
jayson r, the proximity of these parks to houses and other living areas makes that a large concern when the “park police” deploy these centerfire rifles.
btw, these cops power trip on traffic enforcement compared to the county cops, (i wonder why).
The rifles are probably going to be used by the department’s SRT (special response team/unit) and not to be used by the regular patrol units. I personally believe that all squad cars should be equipped with a long gun, and the officers train and qualify with them.
These guys are the real deal. They patrol the same streets and cities everyone else does. However, they do it with their closest backup 25-35 minutes away. I worked with one of their officers on a DUI task force years back and gained a lot of respect for them. If anyone needs more tools and assistance, it’s these guys. Balls of steel.