CHATTANOOGA , Tenn. — Before the shooting spree at Columbine High School in April 1999, police officers nationwide followed routine protocol for responding to active shooters — surround the perimeter, contain the scene and wait on the SWAT team to deal with it.
But officials who did just that at the school in Littleton, Colo., were unable to help as the two teenage shooters killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.
Since then, officials across the nation have followed a different procedure, Chattanooga Police Department Deputy Chief Mark Rawlston said.
"(Columbine) caused a dramatic shift in deployment of officers on active shootings," he said. "Officers are trained that, as soon as they get a sufficient number for an approach, they're to form a team, enter and engage those people."
Officers can't, however, respond to those scenes armed only with handguns, which are no match for shooters with high-powered weapons, Chief Rawlston said.
To prepare for such situations, the Chattanooga department is outfitting each patrol officer and patrol sergeant with an urban assault rifle.
"It allows us to get our officers on an even footing with the people they deal with on the streets," Chief Rawlston said. "I do not want to ask my officers to go into an active shooter situation and take on a person armed with an assault rifle and my officers have a handgun. I don't want my officers to be at a disadvantage."
The department is unveiling 250 new Bushmaster .223 caliber rifles at 10 a.m. today with a demonstration and media event at the Moccasin Bend firing range.
The rifles were purchased with federal asset forfeiture money — money confiscated from drug dealers — at no cost to taxpayers, Chief Rawlston said. The department hopes that future drug forfeiture money will pay for about 200 more rifles, he said.
The rifles cost $701.54 each, said Assistant Chief Mike Williams, who oversees patrol and uniformed operation. More than 80 officers have been carrying patrol rifles — which they purchased themselves — for 1 1/2 years because the department did not have the funds to buy them, he said.
The department saw a need for urban rifles after criminals began arming themselves with more dangerous weapons, including AK-47s made in China and Russia, because they're cheaper and easier to purchase, he said. Some criminals also are more violent than in the past, and access to powerful guns make them more dangerous than ever, he said.
The urban rifles are more accurate at greater ranges than shotguns, have little recoil and can use two different types of ammunition, depending on the type of bullet penetration power an officer wants, Chief Williams said.
Officers must go through two days of training before carrying the rifles and still will carry Tasers and handguns, he said.
"This is just to augment what they're already issued," Chief Williams said. "Obviously, patrol officers are the ones that are on the front line and are the more likely to come in contact with somebody that they would need to deploy the rifle."
The rifles are engraved with the Chattanooga Police Department logo to personalize them and make them easier to track.
The rifles also should send a message to those carrying weapons that officers can respond in any type of event, Chief Williams said.
"I think it's a sign from us that we are prepared to deal with them and … those type of situations," he said.