Miami Police to give officers assault weapons

MIAMI (AP) — A rise in assault rifle use by criminals has spurred Miami's police chief to authorize patrol officers to carry similar weapons.

Police Chief John Timoney approved the new policy last week. That was even before a Miami-Dade police officer was killed in a shootout with an assault rifle-wielding suspect on Thursday. Timoney says the new policy has been under review for about a year due to officers seeing an increase in the weapons.

The chief blames the 2004 expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons for the escalation of heavily armed violence on Miami's streets. He says AK-47s have become a “gun of choice” for criminals. For example, an officer responding to a domestic dispute recently found the man sleeping with an AK-47.

According to the Miami Police Department, 15 of its 79 homicides last year involved assault weapons. This year, 12 of the 60 homicides have involved the high-power guns.