Sheriff's deputies get high-powered rifles

New rifles issued to Hamilton County Sheriff's Office deputies will put more power in the hands of patrol officers, who may face increasingly violent criminals with high-powered weapons, officials said.

"It's small, lightweight and easy to carry," said school resource officer Breeland Kilgore, who also served on the SWAT team. "And with three magazines, we can carry more firepower. Having these added to our resources will help us face what's on the street."

Officer Kilgore was one of 14 sheriff's deputies training this week with the department's new .223-caliber semi-automatic rifles.

More than 50 Hamilton County deputies now have patrol rifles, which are stored in car trunks or offices depending where the deputies spend most of their time.

Training started the first week of November, and about half of the 112 deputies who will receive rifles already have done so, said Sgt. Jody Mays, a training instructor and coordinator for the patrol rifle program. The rifles will be given to those in the patrol, fugitive, school resource officer and K-9 divisions.

Resource officers may not face students with high-powered rifles -- though it certainly is a possibility -- but the threat of terrorist attacks on schools looms, and officers need ways to respond during such incidents, Sgt. Mays said.

Each rifle is mounted with a flashlight, contains night sights that glow when in a low-light setting and cost about $1,100. They were purchased with drug seizure and forfeiture money.

The patrol rifle gives deputies more accuracy than a shotgun, a danger at far distances because of buckshot. It also provides better protection for the deputies against criminals on the street who may be carrying similar high-powered weapons, Sgt. Mays said.

And it gives deputies more range compared to the handgun, which is effective up to about 25 yards, he said.

"It allows an officer to have more of a standoff distance for officer safety and improved accuracy above and beyond what we'd have for a shotgun," Sgt. Mays said.

On Thursday, the second day of the three-day course, deputies worked on starting from certain positions and turning toward a target to fire, as well as walking and firing.

"Time's never on our side," an instructor shouted. "We never have enough time."

Chattanooga police officers were outfitted with similar rifles in July 2008. Officials with that department said then that the rifles would better equip them to deal with criminals toting high-powered weapons.

"We're running into individuals whose main mindset is to kill or injure as many people as possible until they're stopped," Lt. David Roddy with the Chattanooga Police Department said last year.