By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wood County Park District Police will soon be armed with semi-automatic rifles.
The park district board voted Tuesday to approve a request from park police to spend up to $10,244 on seven AR-style rifles with holographic sights and flashlights.
The park police had applied for a grant for the new firearms, but did not receive the funding. However, park district director Neil Munger said the district budget has enough to buy the rifles.
The park police officers are already armed with pistols and shotguns. And some of the six officers already carry their own personal rifles while on duty. Munger said he would rather they carry park-purchased firearms.
“I personally feel much better if it’s agency-assigned than their own personal rifles,” he said.
Munger said the rifles are not an extreme request.
“It’s pretty much become a standard in most agencies,” he said.
The board approved buying seven semi-automatic rifles, so there is one spare.
In 2012, the county park rangers presented a proposal that would replace their shotguns with AR-15 semi-automatic rifles. They asserted that the weapons, in addition to providing less legal liability than the shotguns if fired, would also be more practical when rangers are required to dispatch rabid animals, and would also serve rangers better in cases of a possible active shooter situation.
The park board at the time did not approve that request. Board members voiced concerns about the “escalation of the rangers’ weapons.” Some questioned whether the rangers should perform more of a service role, as opposed to enforcement.
One board member said individuals he had spoken with on the issue were “horrified” by the prospect of rangers carrying assault weapons. And another questioned if this was the perception wanted by the park district.
But when the issue was brought up Tuesday, there were no reservations expressed by park board members.
Tom Myers did ask under what situations the park police would discharge their rifles.
Sgt. Eric Shiffler and Officer Mark Wagner explained.
“Any kind of an active threat,” Shiffler said. “It’s kind of silly that we can show up at an active shooter at a school” but not be armed with semi-automatic rifles.
“This provides us with an additional capacity,” Wagne said.
The history of weapon discharges by park police usually includes a couple incidents a year when rabid animals have to be killed.
The park officers have all qualified for rifle use.
In 2018, the Wood County Park District’s rangers asked the park board to change their title from rangers to police officers.
The park board voted unanimously to do so.
In the past, the county park rangers had law enforcement and maintenance roles. That had changed, and the rangers now perform strictly law enforcement duties. The park rangers are certified Ohio Peace Officers, and the name change clarified their authority.
“We believe that because of the public’s inability to distinguish exactly what we are or what we do, eventually an incident may escalate the need for force and thus escalate the liability of the park district,” their proposal stated.
Toledo Metroparks still refers to its officers as rangers, according to Scott Carpenter, head of public relations for the metroparks.
“We like them being called rangers,” Carpenter said when contacted in 2018, adding that the officers do more than protect people, by also looking out for nature. Carpenter also noted that all national parks are patrolled by park rangers, not park police.
