LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lynchburg police officers will soon be carrying more than one gun.
City Council just gave the greenlight to use $82,000 to buy rifles for patrol officers.
Currently, every officer has a handgun, but about 60 rifles are strategically given out to officers.
Chief Ryan Zuidema says having the rifles would have helped his officers during a shootout with a Campbell County man earlier this month.
An LPD officer was injured.
“The capability of a handgun versus a patrol rifle are very different in... the distance that they are effective at and obviously, the greater the distance between the officer and in this case the subject shooting at them ... the more safe they can potentially be,” Zuidema said.
After City Council has officially given them the money, Zuidema added, they’ll look for a bidder, then train their officers on the rifles.