Police want more effective, safer firepower

print this

The Finnish Police Technology Centre is looking for a bullet which would be appropriate for certain special situations.
      If the right type is found, the search will continue for a new weapon that would suit those same circumstances.
     
The idea is not to find a new weapon to be carried by officers on patrol, but one that can be used in special circumstances, mainly to encounter the firepower of an adversary.
      At this stage the search is on for a bullet that would be, as it were, efficient, but not too efficient.
      The aim is to find a bullet of the so-called NATO calibre (5.56 mm.) that would not fragment too much or spin randomly upon impact with the human body.
      Various bullets are being tested by firing them into a gelatin mass resembling the human body in texture.
      According to Tapani Hack of the Ministry of the Interior, Finnish police might need the new type of weapon in difficult situations in which the characteristics of their present arsenal are not sufficient.
     
The present MP5 submachine guns are not very accurate at distances over 70 metres. A new weapon is needed for ranges between 70 and 150 metres.
      For longer distances the police have a few sniper rifles, but Hack says that they cause extensive damage at closer range.
      The new weapon would be used only in demanding special situations by specially-trained officers.
     
So why do police need a new military-style weapon?
      Hack says that newspaper stories from the past weekend offer one answer.
      "We have a huge number of weapons for hunting in this country. And as we can read in the papers, we have many situations in which people shoot around with shotguns or rifles."
      The idea is to avoid situations in which the police are out-gunned.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  At least four people die in weekend violence around Finland (22.11.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat