NJ Small Town's Fortified Arsenal

DUMONT NJ planned purchase of a half-dozen submachine guns may make it one of the better-armed small towns in the region. But it also raises familiar questions about the wisdom of maintaining scores of little police forces, all preparing for highly dangerous situations that are highly unlikely to occur in their jurisdictions.

The town plans to spend about $16,000 on six .40-caliber Heckler & Koch UMPs, powerful semiautomatic weapons typically used by SWAT and military special operations units. They feature 30-round magazines and can fire at a rate of 650 rounds per minute.

Dumont police asked for the big new guns partly because they have worn out their old single-shot rifles. Don't worry, though, there was no crime wave. The 2-square-mile borough of about 17,500 saw a total of 10 violent crimes in 2006, up from eight in 2005.

In fact, none of the department's eight-year-old arsenal of Ruger Carbine rifles has ever been fired in action. Rather, they were exhausted by training exercises and car rides. Police Chief Brian Venezio said the guns have endured firing "thousands of rounds" during firearms certifications as well as "the wear and tear of being stored in police vehicles." As a result, they have become vulnerable to jamming and accidental discharge.

One of the new submachine guns will be aboard each of the borough's six patrol cars for "heightened emergency situations." As one detective told The Record, the "bad guys" are getting them, so the police "need to keep up."

We're all for fully equipping the good guys. But we wish they would take more advantage of their potential for organizational superiority over the bad guys. For example, we have often been told that regional forces exist so our scores of small suburban departments don't need specialized units and equipment. And yet Dumont officials point out that the Bergen County Police Department has the same submachine guns they plan to buy.

This is a relatively small example of a questionable duplication of law enforcement services. But it makes us wonder how many more we don't know about.