Metro's police union says its officers need to be better armed to face the increasing threat of more criminals who have more guns, and more powerful guns. Amir Crump opened fire last Wednesday with a semi-automatic rifle pressing off more than 50 shots killing Sergeant Henry Prendes, wounding officer William Marx, and leaving a neighborhood pock-marked with bullet holes.
Crump was well armed, a situation police are facing more often. David Kallas, said, "It's becoming more and more prevalent and so from our perspective we need to have more weapons than the criminals do."
David Kallas is with the Police Protective Association, Metro's officers union. He says the loss of Sergeant Prendes in the line of duty, at the hands of someone with such a high-powered weapon, shows the playing field needs to be leveled. "As officers, people who are charged with protecting the front line of our community, yeah, we need to have more weapons and not less."
Kallas wants Metro patrol officers to be issued assault rifles. North Las Vegas Police already issue rifles to experienced officers, but at Metro it's mostly SWAT team members who get the high-powered weapons. Kallas says Prendes' death changes the equation. Kallas said, "It becomes a priority issue for sure."
The Police Protective Association says this is about officer safety, pure and simple. They don't know if an assault rifle would have saved Henry Prendes, but they want officers in the future who face a similar situation to have more of a fighting chance.
Email reporter Brain Allen at ballen@klastv.com
