More frontline firepower hitting the roads soon (10 photos, video)

Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officers are currently being trained to use new Colt C8 carbines, a type of assault rifle used by the military and many police services across the country.

The decision to equip frontline officers with the weapons came last year, said Sergeant Rob Gioia and Constable Darren Sirie, speaking to SooToday at a carbine training session for Sault Police officers off Great Northern Road Tuesday.

Gioia and Sirie are responsible for administering the carbine training program.

The Sault Police Service decision was inspired by a 2015 coroner's report which recommended frontline RCMP officers should be equipped with carbines and trained to use them, along with being supplied with heavier body armour, after three RCMP officers were killed and two others wounded in a June 4, 2014 shooting rampage by a lone gunman in Moncton, New Brunswick.

"We would be very naive and irresponsible to believe that something like that can't happen here, and it's even more irresponsible not to prepare for that possibility by not having the equipment or the training to meet that threat," Gioia said. 

Calls for frontline officers across Canada to be equipped with carbines date back to before the Moncton tragedy, to the May 3, 2005 incident in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, in which four RCMP officers were killed by a lone gunman. 

The RCMP has been criticized by some in the media and by its own personnel for dragging its feet in providing its officers with sufficient weaponry and training for their own defence and that of the public.

The OPP has had carbines in place for its personnel since 2006, while several Ontario police services have brought in carbines for their officers, including Sudbury, Halton, Durham, Windsor, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel and London.     

While Sault Police Services Emergency Services Unit (ESU) officers have been equipped with carbines for years, 10 Colt C8 carbines have been purchased by the Sault Police Service with the intent of having each specially-trained, qualified frontline police officer equipped with the carbines, along with heavier body armour, in their cruisers while out on regular patrol. 

But police say don't be alarmed.

"We're not militarizing," Gioia said.

"Unfortunately these are the tools of the trade these days, this is the cost of doing business, having access to carbines and, more importantly, having the training that goes along with having access to those carbines."

"At no time will we 'carry' carbines, they're stored in the vehicle in a locked, vertical gun rack and/or in the trunk . . . and those incidents (when police need them) will be few and far between," Gioia said.

"The Colt C8 is a law enforcement patrol rifle that was basically produced by Colt because of the growing trend of carbines on patrol . . . it's another tool in the toolbox to complement officer safety and public safety as well," Sirie said.

"The majority of the time people will never, ever see an officer with these rifles, and we hope they never have to use them, but the officers will have them in case something happens," Sirie said.

"We have a policy as to when they can be used…there are dynamics they must consider before the rifle becomes something they are going to use," Sirie said.

A scenario in which the carbines would be needed would be dealing with an armed, barricaded person, Gioia said. 

"When we get the new cruisers in, the carbines will be coming in with a gun mount between the seats in the front so they will be locked between the seats of the car, in the meantime they are locked in the vehicle," Sirie said.

Approximately 50 frontline Sault Police officers will be trained to use the 10 carbines by July 1.

The carbine training consists of three officers at a time, with two instructors on hand.

Training is spread over two days, and involves a classroom component before officers get on to the shooting range.

"They're picking it up pretty quickly," Gioia said.

"The guys have been happy, the guys understand the carbines are another tool in the toolbox," Sirie said.

"The climate of society right now is very anti-government as well as all this extreme radicalization that's going on, officers know they have to be prepared," Sirie said.

"We feel more prepared . . . we've done everything in our power to equip officers and train them appropriately to meet threats, through the carbine training and the heavy vests," Gioia said.

"The chief (Sault Police Chief Robert Keetch) saw the need, and he approached me and Darren and said 'We've got to get these carbines in the cars right now, and we've got to get the heavy vests,'" Gioia said.  

Training will be continual and ongoing, with officers having to be trained and requalified to use a carbine twice a year. 

The 10 carbines cost approximately $2,000 each, while 28 heavily armoured vests cost approximately $500 each.