DALLAS, TEX – On the heels of a recent shootout that left Richardson and Plano police outgunned, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has announced that police officers will be allowed to purchase their own AR-15 semiautomatic rifles. Last month, Richardson and Plano police faced a barrage of automatic assault rifle fire as they chased robbers thought to be the Takeover Bandits. No one was seriously injured, and the suspects escaped. But the incident highlighted the need for local police departments to beef up their arsenals.

PITTSBURGH, PA – Unions representing the City’s police officers and firefighters filed suits in Commonwealth Court this summer asking the Court to prevent the City from implementing recommendations prescribed by the City’s Act 47 Financial Recovery Coordinator. Under the recovery plan, not only are unions precluded from negotiating new financial benefits, but they are also prevented from winning any concession that restricts the City’s management rights. The latter provision can be interpreted so broadly that it virtually wipes out the unions’ ability to negotiate a new contract, according to police union attorney Bryan Campbell. One of the attorneys representing the City and State, Clifford Levine, argued that the unions were out of place suing in Commonwealth Court, saying collective bargaining grievances should go through other channels – arbitration, then through the local Court of Common Pleas.