Perhaps police could use some weapons besides assault rifles

It's easy to play armchair detective when it comes to police shootings. If you've seen one TV cop show solve a crime between detergent commercials, you've seen a thousand.

Fact is, Southern Nevada police officers have a difficult and dangerous duty. No thinking person disputes that.

That doesn't mean there aren't problems at Metro when it comes to officer involved shootings and the use of deadly force.

In the wake of the Review-Journal's groundbreaking and important series on the subject, no one can reasonably argue that, either.

If, as expected, the U.S. Department of Justice one day sends officials to investigate Metro's policies and procedures on the use of deadly force in the wake of the 12th fatal officer involved shooting this year, the federal experts will probably search for troublesome trends.

See if you can spot anything troublesome with these three deadly police shootings:

■ Feb. 28, 2003: Unarmed African-American Orlando Barlow, a convicted felon, is on his knees and flanked by police officers when he's shot in the back and killed by Metro Officer Bryan Hartman. Weapon of choice: AR-15 assault rifle.

■ June 11, 2010: Unarmed African-American Trevon Cole, a suspected marijuana dealer, is on his knees and flanked by arresting Metro officers when he is shot in the face and killed by Detective Bryan Yant. Weapon of choice: AR-15 assault rifle.

■ Dec. 12, 2011: Unarmed African-American Stanley Gibson, a disabled war veteran, is in his car blocked in by Metro black-and-whites and surrounded by police when he's shot and killed by Officer Jesus Arevalo. Weapon of choice: AR-15 assault rifle.

Although it's standard police issue these days, Metro police didn't always carry the AR-15. The AR-15 is the semi-automatic version of the M-16, the military assault rifle used in the Vietnam War.

Sheriff Doug Gillespie recalled Thursday that the AR-15 was added in response to the growing proliferation of high-caliber weapons on the street.

The Feb. 1, 2006, shooting death of 14-year Metro veteran Henry Prendes by an AK-47-wielding Amir Crump is all the proof some local cops need that the added firepower is essential in the new Las Vegas.

While there were enough bloody shootouts nationally to justify some police fears that officers ran the risk of bringing pistols to machine gun fights, the AR-15's acceptance and use have been controversial in several parts of the country.

One that's particularly disturbing is the case of unarmed African-American Aaron Campbell, distraught over the death of his brother, who was shot and killed by a Portland police officer using an AR-15.

Set aside for a moment that the DOJ will want to look at the number of unarmed minorities who have wound up in Metro's cross hairs in recent years. Attention also must be paid to the troubling recurring theme of the officers' use and obvious misuse of the AR-15 assault rifle.

Perhaps it's a training issue. Metro SWAT officers, for instance, train almost constantly to prepare for complex calls. The rest of the department does not, yet its officers have ready access to semi-automatic rifles. Hitting the practice range two-to-four times a year might not be enough.

But it's not just a training issue. It's also a question of judgment and leadership.

"When you look at three, now most likely our third shooting, that will create a lot of discussion," Gillespie said. "When you look at Brian Hartman, and you look at Yant, and then you look at this one, I don't see how we don't look at the AR-15 and its utilization. That weapon and its introduction into policing, you could get people on both sides of that in regards to its effectiveness in an urban environment."

It's well past time to start asking hard questions about the AR-15's use by police on the streets of Las Vegas.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Smith