Exposing Corruption, Injustices and the Truth.
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| O'Fallon Watchdog |
Exposing Corruption, Injustices and the Truth.
O’Fallon Approves New Handguns For Police
By Amy Armour
Mid Rivers Newsmagazine
It’s not in the budget, but the O’Fallon City Council will work around it.
Sgt. Jeff Gray, with the O’Fallon police department, addressed the City Council at its June 28 work session with
four requests to help firearms training at the police department. Gray would like to equip all of the officers with
new handguns, purchase a firearms training simulator, replace the shotguns in the police cars with rifles and
provide tasers for every police officer.
None of the items were included for the budget this year.
Number one on the list was new pistols for all of the officers. The current pistols the police department uses have
a 10 ½-pound trigger, which Gray said is heavy for handgun standards.
The firearm is more difficult for an officer of a smaller stature and requires more training, Gray said.
The new pistols would have a 6-pound trigger, and Gray said the new gun was evaluated by the officers as a
major improvement.
Gray said the new pistols would cost $396 each and the department would receive $280 for each handgun
traded in. The new guns would also require new holsters, which would cost about $9,900. The total cost would
be about $46,000. Gray also said the manufacturer would be willing to allow the city to pay for half at the time the
guns are ordered, and defer the remaining $18,000 for a year.
Councilman Bill Hennessy suggested utilizing the funds that were dedicated for a new, controversial position of
public safety director which has yet to be filled. The position, which will pay about $98,000 annually including
benefits, has been posted for about six months. Hennessy said he was not suggesting eliminating the position,
only to use the $50,000 that has not been used since the position posted for the purchase of new handguns.
Councilman Daniel Christoff said he would like to see the funds used to hire an additional police officer.
“I’m not against upgrading weapons…but I would like to see that the money was used to hire another police
officer…We don’t need to upgrade our Chevy’s to Cadillac’s tonight,” Christoff said.
Councilman Pierce Conley said he would rather see 104 officers equipped properly, than hiring one more
officer.
The council unanimously approved moving funds so the police department could purchase new handguns. The
other requests will be taken into consideration at the end of the year, when the city does its budget.
Watchdog response: Has the O'Fallon City Council finally given up on the idea of filling the Safety Directors
spot? It appears they have at least for now, however the money is still in the budget and Pierce Conley has
jumped at the idea of using it to play politics. Councilman Conley wants to useit to upgrade the service
weapons that the police carry, all in the name of public safety. It is really more like in the name of good old
fashion politics, this way come election time next year Pierce can thump his chest about this issue, showing
just how dedicated to the safety of our citizens he is, yeah right! Conley received permission to speak to the
police department about his idea. Sgt. Jeff Gray looked into the idea and agrees it is justified and needed.
The reasons are because the weight of the current weapon in about 10 lbs, the new ones are around 6
lbs. Gray also stated the trigger on the old weapons are hard to pull for small stature officers. What! Are you
kidding me? Just a bit of advise to Councilman Conley and Sgt. Gray, if an officer has difficulty pulling the
trigger on their weapon due to their meek stature, this might not be the job for them. I am not sure a gun with
a hair trigger is a real good idea for a scared cop full of adrenaline walking up behind a pick up truck on a
dark side road in the middle of the night. Just ask Lincoln County how that turns out, as far as the weight issue,
what is 4 lbs when the weapon is holstered 95% of the time? I hope O'Fallon's finest are not out running
around with their guns pulled that often that the weight is that big of an issue.
If the Council really wants to do some good here are 2 suggestions, first get tasers for all officers so they do
not have to share them between shifts. Officers use tasers far more often than they pull their guns and
second and most important is upgrade the radio system so that it covers the entire city limits. The police
currently have very sporadic coverage in the south end of town and in some spots no coverage at all. The
police can get all the new shiny weapons in the world, but they won't be able to notify anyone should they have
a need to use them due to the inadequate radio system. Now that is a safety issue not only for he public but
more importantly the police officer. Pierce if you are going to play politics at least do the cops and the
citizens a favor and make the public safety expenditures worth while.
By Amy Armour
Mid Rivers Newsmagazine
It’s not in the budget, but the O’Fallon City Council will work around it.
Sgt. Jeff Gray, with the O’Fallon police department, addressed the City Council at its June 28 work session with
four requests to help firearms training at the police department. Gray would like to equip all of the officers with
new handguns, purchase a firearms training simulator, replace the shotguns in the police cars with rifles and
provide tasers for every police officer.
None of the items were included for the budget this year.
Number one on the list was new pistols for all of the officers. The current pistols the police department uses have
a 10 ½-pound trigger, which Gray said is heavy for handgun standards.
The firearm is more difficult for an officer of a smaller stature and requires more training, Gray said.
The new pistols would have a 6-pound trigger, and Gray said the new gun was evaluated by the officers as a
major improvement.
Gray said the new pistols would cost $396 each and the department would receive $280 for each handgun
traded in. The new guns would also require new holsters, which would cost about $9,900. The total cost would
be about $46,000. Gray also said the manufacturer would be willing to allow the city to pay for half at the time the
guns are ordered, and defer the remaining $18,000 for a year.
Councilman Bill Hennessy suggested utilizing the funds that were dedicated for a new, controversial position of
public safety director which has yet to be filled. The position, which will pay about $98,000 annually including
benefits, has been posted for about six months. Hennessy said he was not suggesting eliminating the position,
only to use the $50,000 that has not been used since the position posted for the purchase of new handguns.
Councilman Daniel Christoff said he would like to see the funds used to hire an additional police officer.
“I’m not against upgrading weapons…but I would like to see that the money was used to hire another police
officer…We don’t need to upgrade our Chevy’s to Cadillac’s tonight,” Christoff said.
Councilman Pierce Conley said he would rather see 104 officers equipped properly, than hiring one more
officer.
The council unanimously approved moving funds so the police department could purchase new handguns. The
other requests will be taken into consideration at the end of the year, when the city does its budget.
Watchdog response: Has the O'Fallon City Council finally given up on the idea of filling the Safety Directors
spot? It appears they have at least for now, however the money is still in the budget and Pierce Conley has
jumped at the idea of using it to play politics. Councilman Conley wants to useit to upgrade the service
weapons that the police carry, all in the name of public safety. It is really more like in the name of good old
fashion politics, this way come election time next year Pierce can thump his chest about this issue, showing
just how dedicated to the safety of our citizens he is, yeah right! Conley received permission to speak to the
police department about his idea. Sgt. Jeff Gray looked into the idea and agrees it is justified and needed.
The reasons are because the weight of the current weapon in about 10 lbs, the new ones are around 6
lbs. Gray also stated the trigger on the old weapons are hard to pull for small stature officers. What! Are you
kidding me? Just a bit of advise to Councilman Conley and Sgt. Gray, if an officer has difficulty pulling the
trigger on their weapon due to their meek stature, this might not be the job for them. I am not sure a gun with
a hair trigger is a real good idea for a scared cop full of adrenaline walking up behind a pick up truck on a
dark side road in the middle of the night. Just ask Lincoln County how that turns out, as far as the weight issue,
what is 4 lbs when the weapon is holstered 95% of the time? I hope O'Fallon's finest are not out running
around with their guns pulled that often that the weight is that big of an issue.
If the Council really wants to do some good here are 2 suggestions, first get tasers for all officers so they do
not have to share them between shifts. Officers use tasers far more often than they pull their guns and
second and most important is upgrade the radio system so that it covers the entire city limits. The police
currently have very sporadic coverage in the south end of town and in some spots no coverage at all. The
police can get all the new shiny weapons in the world, but they won't be able to notify anyone should they have
a need to use them due to the inadequate radio system. Now that is a safety issue not only for he public but
more importantly the police officer. Pierce if you are going to play politics at least do the cops and the
citizens a favor and make the public safety expenditures worth while.