Biting the bullet: Ammunition in short supply for police departments

The more than 1 billion bullets shot by U.S. troops overseas in the past year have created an ammunition shortage on domestic soil that is taking a toll on police departments all over the country.

A little planning has saved most local law enforcement agencies from having to decrease their training hours, but area police budgets are still feeling the pinch, police spokesmen say.

"We're counting bullets," said Jackson police Lt. Rodney Barnes.

The Jackson Police Department had to request a budget increase this year simply to accommodate the burgeoning costs of ammunition, Barnes said.

In the past year, the department spent thousands of dollars in ammunition expenditures to train, qualify and arm Jackson's 22 officers.

Barnes said he used to pay $127 for a 1,000-round case of ammunition.

In the past year and half, the price has shot up to more than $300.

"We don't know when it's going to stop," he said.

In the past year or so, ammunition flew off the shelves in stores and inventory just dried up, causing an industrywide shortage, according to Robert Ralph, vice president of OMB Police Supply, based in Kansas City, Mo. The company furnishes ammunition and other police supplies to the Cape Girardeau and Scott City police departments.

In particular, .223-caliber rounds are in short supply, nearly the same kind of ammunition as that used in the military's M-16 and M-4, and made from the same metals.

The AR-14 and AR-15 patrol rifles most police department patrol officers use, including those in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, take .223-caliber slugs.

Police began arming patrolmen with those rifles after the North Hollywood shootout in 1997, when patrol officers engaged two heavily armed bank robbers in gunfire and were so outmatched that 16 civilians and officers were wounded before they could take out the robbers.

Only 15 percent of the ammunition used by Cape Girardeau police officers is the .223-caliber, because it is only used in the patrol rifles, and a cheaper grade of bullet is used for training purposes, police spokesman Sgt. Barry Hovis said.

The military has first priority on those rounds, and law enforcement and hunters have been draining whatever is left, Ralph said.

Ralph said OMB has had difficulty meeting nearly every contract, supplies have dwindled so low.

"We had 91,000 rounds the first week of May and sold out within a few weeks," he said of .223-caliber bullets.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department used to be able to restock its supply of .223-caliber rounds within 30 days. Now, the department is told it may face a six-month wait, Hovis said.

The high demand and low supply has caused the cost to spike by 30 percent in the past year. Increasing demand for copper and lead overseas, especially in China, has only added to the problem, according to Associated Press reports.

As of Oct. 1, the cost will rise another 15 percent, Ralph said.

Shooters Gun Shop Inc. in Cape Girardeau has managed to keep the .223-caliber ammunition in stock, but the price has doubled since Jan. 1, from $6 per 12-round box to $12, said employee Eric Graham.

Because distributors announced last year that prices were expected to jump from 25 to 30 percent, the Cape Girardeau Police Department put its order in last July before the increase could take effect, Hovis said.

"What I bought last year is what we'll shoot this year, and what I bought this year is what we'll shoot next year," Hovis said.

Scott City police also place their order only once a year, in bulk, said chief Don Cobb.

While many police departments reported having to curtail training hours and cancel qualifications for certain guns, so far, local police departments haven't had to take such measures.

"We've just been conservative with our use," Barnes said.

Reducing training time would be a last resort because it is a "skill that can be diminished if you don't practice," he said.

However, Sheldon Lineback, executive director of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association, said technological tools like simulators, where officers use virtual reality-type programs to practice real-life shooter situations with laser fire instead of bullets, has reduced the need for ammunition to be used in every training session.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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