PHOENIX (AP) - When he was Maricopa County attorney, Bill Montgomery spent years stockpiling guns and ammunition to arm employees and specially trained investigators and their supervisors. Now, his successor is grappling with this unwanted lethal inventory.
Allister Adel said keeping the guns and ammo does little to further the county attorney’s job of prosecuting criminals.
She has ordered the storage of the rifles and is exploring ways to transfer them to other law enforcement agencies.
“Upon taking office I reorganized and changed the purpose of the Maricopa County Attorney Office’s Investigations Division from a traditional law enforcement agency to one of trained professionals whose focus is to provide investigative support to deputy county attorneys,” Adel said in a statement to the Arizona Republic.
An investigation by the newspaper found Montgomery’s office spent about $400,000 between 2011 and 2018 on rifles, handguns and ammunition to arm employees and to certify them on the “AR-15 rifle system.”
The county attorney’s office bought tens of thousands of bullets that were used for training and practice and also purchased body armor, shields and tactical gear to kit out rifles with scopes, flashlights and 30-round magazines, according to the Republic.
Montgomery left the prosecutor’s office in September 2019 for a seat on the Arizona Supreme Court.
The Republic said Montgomery won’t answer specific questions about weapons and ammunition purchases, the creation of an arsenal, what prompted the rifle program or if it was modeled on another agency.
Rick Romley, who served as county attorney from 1989-2004 and briefly as interim leader of the office in 2010, said he’s dumbfounded by the rifle training and weapons purchases.
“Why do you need all those rifles? And an armory?” Romley said. “I don’t really understand it. I don’t understand the need.”
Romley said he couldn’t envision a need to assign semi-automatic weapons to every investigator and dismissed the idea that investigators could act as first responders.
“That’s not our primary role,” he said. “To be a first responder, you have to have training in tactics that we didn’t have.”
Romley said he could not recall a case where a county attorney employee was forced to fire a weapon in the line of duty.
Andrew Thomas, who took over as county attorney in 2004, also did not attempt to beef up the weapons program.
Records show in 2009 he sought to replace 10-year-old handguns by trading 45 used Glocks for 51 new ones.
The trade saved the county $12,500, according to the Republic.
After Thomas resigned in 2010, Romley returned to the office and found no evidence of a rifle buildup.
The Republic said records show the County Attorney’s Office had more than 285,556 rounds of ammunition when Montgomery left office.
That included 69,506 rifle bullets, 200,800 handgun bullets and 15,250 shotgun shells.
Guns and ammo purchases were made through RICO funds, or profits from property confiscated during arrests and investigations, according to the Republic.
Adel’s office said anti-racketeering funds also have paid for upgrades to the county attorney’s case management software, gang and substance abuse programs, victim protection and relocation and even office furniture.
The office also distributes funds annually to qualified community groups.
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