The Washington City Council approved a proposal for the police department to purchase new rifles during their recent meeting.

Police Chief Jim Lester explained to the council that their current rifles are 12-16 years old, and through this purchase program the department would buy 10 rifles, with seven of them to be owned by each officer, “The guys approached me about a patrol rifle purchase program. Other agencies do this, this plan that we put together was actually used by other agencies in the past and it gets the officers to have weapons that are individualized for them and we’ve included in our budget that will be presented to you in a couple weeks.”

Lester stated that allowing the officers to purchase their own rifle will allow them to have one personalized to their preferences, such as whether they are right or left handed. The rifles would be purchased from the same manufacturer, and the total cost is estimated at $17,879 with officer payments of $14,254 over two years, resulting in a total cost to the city of $3,355. The officers participating will be required to complete program participation agreements and a promissory note allowing for automatic payroll deduction for the rifles. They also plan to store the rifles in the department’s armory.