Machine Guns in Police Cars--a threat to the saftey of inner-city neighborhoods?

"County Sheriff's Department is asking the public's help to locate a rifle stolen from a department patrol car.

The car was parked near an officer's home [a few blocks from the inner city of Elkhart]. The incident occurred between 11 p.m. Friday and 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

Missing:

• A department-issued black Colt M16, a .223-caliber automatic rifle; serial number of 4459957.

• Four magazines of ammunition.

• Rechargeable flashlight.

Anyone with information about the incident or the stolen rifle should call (574) 533-4151 and ask to speak with an officer.

Off-duty weapons policy:

The Elkhart County Sheriff's Department requires officers to keep weapons secure while off-duty. If the officer does not have a garage at the residence, one of the allowed storage places is in the locked rack.

The officer's vehicle had both interior and exterior damage, including broken windows, and [the] locked rifle rack had been cut and removed from its mounting."

So, the wireless alarm systems installed on every machine gun mount can be circumvented!

Did it ever occur to these people that displaying such a choice weapon just a couple feet from the face of just about every criminal ever transported to the county jail probably wasn't a good way of deterring the theft thereof? Or that criminals are likely to find such a weapon far more useful than the county officers who carry them everywhere they drive?

I've been told that police officers considered large flashlights a weapon, but never realized that they fit into such an exalted category thereof.