Nov. 16--Money from the federal asset forfeiture fund cannot be used by 100 Fort Smith police officers to purchase semiautomatic rifles for personal use, but the city will own the weapons and issue them like other police equipment, according to a police spokesman.
On July 5, city directors unanimously approved a request from Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey to purchase 115 AR-15 rifles from Rock River Arms in Colona, Ill., with federal asset forfeiture money. The department would retain 15 rifles while officers would purchase the other 100 through a payroll-deduction plan, according to a June 29 memo from Lindsey to City Administrator Ray Gosack. The officers would have had one year to repay the fund, according to the memo.
The department would pay $863 for each rifle, each officer would pay $917, and the cost would not exceed $104,716, according to the memo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Debbie Groom said Tuesday that her office received a complaint from Fort Smith resident Danny Aldridge regarding the purchase of the guns, and it has referred the complaint to the Department of Justice. The matter is under active review, Groom said, but she declined to comment further.
Aldridge did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comments regarding the contents of the complaint, and Groom said she couldn't release documents regarding an active case.
In the June 29 memo, Lindsey cited rules from the U.S. Department of Justice's publication "Guide to Equitable Sharing for State and Local law Enforcement Agencies" that states the asset forfeiture funds can be used to purchase police equipment like furniture, file cabinets or firearms.
In an Oct. 28 letter to Lindsey from the Department of Justice, Gene Patton cited a different section of the guide that details the permissible and impermissible expenditures of the shared funds. Patton is the assistant deputy chief of the asset forfeiture and money laundering section, which oversees the funds.
"Funds may only be expended for law enforcement purposes and may not be transferred or expended for personal use," Patton stated in the letter.
Patton requested that Lindsey provide documentation for all expenditures, including weapons and other equipment, purchased with the asset forfeiture funds for Fort Smith police officers' personal use.
"It can't be owned by the officer," Sgt. Daniel Grubbs, public information officer for the department, said Tuesday. "You can buy it for your officers, but it has to be owned by the city or the department."
Fort Smith police Maj. Mark Hallum said it was a misunderstanding by the department.
"It'll be just like our pistols or any other piece of equipment that is issued to an officer to take home, but when we separate from employment ... instead of him owning that rifle, it will go back to the city," Hallum said.
Gosack told Fort Smith city directors that there are rumors the rifles weren't purchased correctly, but "that is NOT the case."
"The original plan was for employees to own the weapons," Gosack stated in a memo issued Monday. "... We have since learned that the federal regulations regarding the use of seized asset forfeiture funds don't allow the employees to purchase the weapons. The city will have to retain ownership of the rifles."
Gosack also stated that the move to stop officers' ownership of the weapons has "satisfied the U.S. Department of Justice."
Grubbs said officers who opted not to pay for a rifle will now have a chance to have one issued to them, much like a standard-issue handgun or radio.
He said the rifles are necessity the department has been seeking for several years.
"This is a violent world. We've got to have rifles," Grubbs said. "As big a city as we are, with the interstate system and with violent crimes increasing, we have got to better equip ourselves."
Steve Mayer, the law enforcement and government sales manager at Rock River Arms, said Tuesday in a phone interview that prices for AR-15 rifles can range between $700 and $2,800 depending on what accessories are added. He said his prices are product specific, and he has multiple price lines including prices for law enforcement agencies, an individual officer, retail and dealer.
He said officers or law enforcement agencies are never charged full retail price.
Copyright 2011 - Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark.
