West Columbia police to purchase AR-15s with donation

Police in West Columbia will be carrying new patrol rifles after a donation of $10,000.

Police will use the donation – from retired Columbia officer David Arnold to the West Columbia Police Officers Foundation – to purchase about a dozen AR-15s, officials said. The department already has about eight surplus M16 rifles from the Army.

Capt. Scott Morrison, spokesman for the department, said it’s important for officers to have this semi-automatic firepower because of how heavily armed shooters in recent terrorist attacks have been.

“This way, if an incident like that were to occur, we could deploy at least the same type of weaponry to defend ourselves and defend the citizens,” Morrison said.

Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, said issuing rifles to officers is becoming increasingly common since a terrorist attack last year in San Bernadino, Calif.

“I guess some people would look at a move toward patrol rifles as another case of law enforcement officers becoming more militaristic, but I don’t look at it that way,” Bruder said. “I simply look at it as law enforcement officers, law enforcement agencies attempting to be prepared in every scenario.”

In Lexington County, road deputies can carry rifles if they qualify with them, sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Adam Myrick said. Members of the department’s SWAT team also carry them.

In Richland County, only members of the Special Response Team carry rifles, sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Curtis Wilson said. Road deputies carry shotguns.

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 6:28 PM with the headline "West Columbia police to purchase AR-15s with donation."