Catoosa sheriff to trade confiscated weapons for tactical equipment
Catoosa County commissioners approved an interesting deal recently that will allow the Sheriff’s Department the freedom to trade confiscated weapons for new tactical equipment.
During the March 20 Board of Commissioner’s meeting, Sheriff Gary Sisk brought a helmet and vest along with him as he showed off what he’d like his agency to purchase with the revenue from weapons it has seized over the years.
“What you have in front of you is a ballistics helmet and ballistics vest with plates that will stop rifle rounds,” Sisk said. “What I’m here to ask for today is approval of an in-kind trade.”
Sisk said his department has more than 100 guns that have been confiscated over the years and that he recently had them appraised to try to learn how much value they had.
“We have 145 firearms in the evidence room that we’ve receive court orders to dispose of in any way that we deem necessary,” Sisk explained. “We’ve had GT Distributors come and actually value the weapons, and they’re willing to give us $12,500 for the firearms, and in that, we’d like to trade that value to be able to purchase 14 sets of rifle ballistic plates and helmets.”
Essentially, the department can garner new protective equipment it needs without having to give up any of its budget to acquire it.
The board unanimously approved the request, and Sisk added that GT Distributors will be able to deal with the weapons appropriately moving forward.
“They’re (GT Distributors) a federal firearms dealer, so they can legally go to them and then they can deal with them.”