For local departments, assault rifles keep them prepared for the worst

Local law-enforcement officers are often allowed to purchase assault guns that civilians cannot, but only for on-duty use and under department approval, police officials said.
Orange County police officials say the overall increased use of assault weapons by local agencies was an outgrowth of the North Hollywood bank shootout in 1997, when two heavily armed and armored bank robbers stood off dozens of Los Angeles officers in a 45-minute gunbattle. The robbers were eventually killed, but 11 officers and six civilians were injured..."Departments, ours included, started looking at ways to provide first-responders adequate firepower in cases like this," Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. "We went through a long process of evaluating weaponry.
Bertagna said that while the department's SWAT team carries multiple high-powered weapons, it doesn't work around the clock, and it can sometimes take a while to arrive.
Certain officers were selected to carry AR-15-style rifles, based on experience and training..."The weapon is not to be purchased for sale, transfer or personal use," he said. "They are basically buying the weapon for use when they are working here."....
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Full story at Orange County Register
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The writer of this piece (of doggerel) clearly does not know much about firearms, and slings around terms for these firearms from both the anti-gun nuts favorite fantasy playbook ("assault weapons") to the more correct "AR-15 Style rifles". The piece covers the highly restricted rules several Southern California Police departments employ for officers carrying semi-auto rifles that are banned for regular citizens under the ridiculous, arbitrary and unconstitutional California gun laws. It is ironic that these semi-autos are treated as if they were full automatics ("machine guns"), that officers are not allowed to use the rifles for "personal use", and when retired, must either destroy the firearm or take it out of California (or risk being arrested themselves). This LAPD "Urban Police Rifle Cadre" is similar to the U.S. Army's "Designated Marksman" program. In California, even the Police are not trusted with guns, even simple, commonplace semi-autos that are hardly given a glance in most other "Free" States, are seen as "Evil Guns" there. Notice how high the crime rate is in California compared to other States. This is not an accident, and their anti-gun attitude is a direct reason for it...Fools...(S9)