The UNCG police arrested three of our fellow employees after an investigation that made the LA police/Simpson case look positively subtle. The UNCG police drew guns and assaulted a student trying to hang a banner. The UNCG police have a history of racial disparity in their traffic stops.
But never fear: now we're heavily arming them.
Recently, our little university police department was the recipient of six 5.56 millimeter rifles as part of a pentagon surplus program.
Six.
 |
| UNCG Police purchased 6 of these 5.56 millimeter rifles |
I find it interesting that I am accused of potentially inciting violence but no mention has been made nor alarm raised about the possession of semi-automatic weapons capable of holding a 30 round detachable magazine whose major bragging point is "lower recoil and better accuracy providing higher 2nd shot hit probability."
When did these become necessary items to have lying around a university police department?
I mean, sure, they were a bargain at $2,994 and it is hard to resist a sale, but isn't there ANYTHING better on which that money could be spent? You mean to tell me that we were willing to pay $3,000 on semi-automatic weapons but we couldn't scrape it together to offer another section of freshman English (and at a savings!)
Wait, we spent more money on high powered rifles than the UNCG3 allegedly stole.
Faculty in departments across campus are having the phone lines cut off in their offices...but we have this money to buy assault weapons?
Everybody on campus can imagine something that desperately needed fixing, upgrading, or purchase - and now everybody on campus can know that the decision was made, instead, to buy big guns for our little police department.
I know the new chancellor is getting a significant pay raise and some nicer digs, but I didn't realize that s/he was going to need this kind of protection from the unwashed masses.
Do you think it's too late to send these back for a refund?
Here's an excerpt of truth for you...
ReplyDeleteThe UNCG Police department obtained "various items of equipment from LESS (Law Enforcement Support Services), a State agency tasked with distributing surplus military equipment. This included six M-16 rifles. These weapons and the other items received were given to" them "for FREE." "When Virginia Tech occurred," the department had already begun implementing Rapid Response training." They "found that the surplus weapons did not meet" their "needs because of their overall length and began phasing them out for more suitable ones. Those six weapons were transferred to another North Carolina law enforcement agency and are no longer in" their "possession."
You could have asked the department to get the (updated) facts. Instead you hide behind a profile and post half-truths at best (I'll leave the at worst alone). Which has to make any reader with half a brain wonder what your agenda really is - because reporting accurate facts doesn't seem to be it. There's a difference between journalism and slander.
And no I do not work for the department - I'm a UNC-G graduate. While I've had a couple negative experiences with the department (well over 5 years ago); but overall I'm very proud of the men and women who work their to protect and serve the UNC-G community. (Which is saying something because while I was initially proud to be a UNC-G student, before I got to UNC-G graduate that changed.) They don't care if you're black, white, pink, orange, red, brown, purple with green polka dots (or any other combination of the rainbow). They don't care where you're from either. What they do care about is are you obeying the law.
P.S. as for why Police Departments across the nation have gone to arming some officers with "long guns" - in three words Columbine High School.
ReplyDelete"After the events at Columbine High School, law enforcement agencies moved away from the “wait for SWAT” approach to active shooters. Rapid Response became the norm, including the arming of officers with long guns."