MBTA Transit Police are looking at more firepower to deal with active shooter situations and want to upgrade the weapons they have available at a moment's notice.
Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan says the T isn't trying to militarize its force, but it does want rifles to be able to respond adequately and quickly to a situation where a gunman may be armed with something much larger than the .45 caliber handguns police carry now.
Sullivan told the MBTA's Fiscal Management Control Board Monday that he doesn't want to have to order his officers into what could be an unfair firefight.
"I need officers with the ability to match the force, as opposed to running in there with handguns when these guys are in there with fully automatic, basically military grade rifles," Sullivan said.
The T does have a swat team with larger rifles ready to deploy, but in a fast-moving scenario like an attack, any officer may be the first on the scene.
"My officers are on the front lines of terrorism more than any other police agency I can think of," Sullivan told WGBH News.
Transit Police are in the exploratory phase of the plan and haven't determined exactly what rifle model, whether semi- or fully automatic, would be most appropriate.
