Boise Police Department wants an extra $200,000 to buy bullets. Why?

Boise police are having trouble acquiring the bullets they need, so the department is asking the City Council for help.

On Tuesday, the council approved a request to front the department an extra $200,000 to buy ammunition for the upcoming year.

“The supply chain for ammunition is experiencing major delays,” according to a city memorandum.

Supply chain woes have hurt many sectors of the economy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Police departments around the country have faced delayed orders and rising prices in recent years.

“While our Police Department hopes officers never have to use their firearms, proficiency with them is essential should an officer ever be required to use their firearm in protection of our community,” spokesperson Haley Williams told the Idaho Statesman in a text. “Being able to train with the exact equipment they use on the street is critical to public safety. In the past year BPD has encountered a delay in receiving ammunition and we are now essentially making one bulk order rather than splitting the order into two.”

Boise contracts with a Salt Lake City company for bullets, and it purchases mostly 9 mm and .223-caliber bullets, Williams said. The existing contract of $275,000 was increased to $475,000 on Tuesday to allow the department to buy “all or part” of next year’s required ammunition, according to the memo.

In future years, when the contract is renewed, the city plans to resume buying a single year’s worth of bullets at a time. But that supply will be purchased a year in advance, allowing the city to “order ahead to have the ammunition delivered in time of actual need.”

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