Page:Investigative Report Concerning the Purchase of Fully Automatic Rifles and Flash-Bang Distraction Devices by NPS Park Rangers.pdf/10

 using the rifles at the range would reveal that the rifles were fully automatic. He acknowledged that he did not tell any of the chief rangers that MNP park rangers were carrying fully automatic rifles.

During our interview with a fourth MNP park ranger, she recalled that when she took her new Colt M-4 rifle to the range to qualify, she noticed that it appeared to be able to fire fully automatic because of the movement of the safety selector switch. She said that the rifle was issued to her by either the supervisory park ranger or the park ranger/armorer. According to the park ranger, during a conversation with the supervisory park ranger she mentioned that the rifles appeared to be capable of firing fully automatic. She said that he did not appear to be surprised.

The fourth park ranger also told us that she had heard that the supervisory park ranger claimed to have received approval for the procurement of fully automatic rifles. He told her not to shoot the rifle when the chief ranger was around and not to tell anyone about it. She said that at the time she did not know why the supervisory park ranger told her not to do these things.

She also said that park rangers continued to qualify with the rifles twice a year for the next few years, occasionally firing the rifles in fully automatic mode at the range. She was aware of the policy violation but did not discuss it with the supervisory park ranger; she told us that she did not feel comfortable discussing the matter with him for fear of reprisal.

CTS Model 7290 Flash-Bang Distraction Devices

During our investigation, we determined that the supervisory park ranger purchased 24 CTS Model 7290 flash-bang distraction devices on his Government-issued purchase card in 2012.

On June 26, 2014, we took the devices as evidence. They were released to an LESES supervisor for storage in his evidence storage room at the NPS Investigative Services Building in Boulder City, NV.

The chief ranger said that he learned there were flash-bang distraction devices at MNP around May 2014, but he could not recall who told him. When he asked about the devices, the supervisory park ranger told him that he had received approval for the devices from the former chief ranger. According to the chief ranger, the supervisory park ranger said that a law enforcement specialist for the NPS Pacific West Region (now retired) also approved the devices. The chief ranger said that the supervisory park ranger told him that none of the devices had been issued to park rangers because he was waiting for a standard operating procedure (SOP) to be completed and approved. The chief ranger was not aware of any flash-bang distraction devices being issued to or carried by any of the park rangers.

The chief ranger said that he contacted the DCOP, who checked office records and did not find an authorization for MNP to have a flash-bang distraction device program. The chief ranger said that the supervisory park ranger was not truthful with him when he said that MNP was authorized to have such a program.