State ALE chief retires

RALEIGH, Sep 21, 2009 (The News & Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CUFF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The director of the state Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement announced his retirement Monday, one week after a newspaper reported his agency bought all of its agents assault riffles and that some of the weapons are unaccounted for.

Bill Chandler 's retirement was announced Monday afternoon in an e-mail to the agency 's employees from Ruben Young, the state secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety. Chandler, who was appointed to head ALE by former Gov. Mike Easley in November 2007, had worked at the agency 30 years as a field agent and supervisor.

He will be replaced by John Ledford, a former ALE agent who is currently the sheriff of Madison County. Ledford will take over the agency in November, according to the e-mail from Young.

Chandler was not available for comment. A spokesman said Monday he was out of the office, on leave.

"During his tenure as director, ALE made significant strides in enhancing public safety throughout the state, " Young said in the e-mail to ALE employees. "We appreciate his dedicated, professional service to state government and the citizens of North Carolina, and wish him well in his retirement. "

Ledford was also unavailable for comment. A receptionist at his office in the mountain town of Marshall said he was on vacation this week.

Chandler 's departure comes after a Sept. 13 story in The News & Observer disclosed that every ALE agent has a state-issued assault rifle, and two of the expensive and powerful firearms had been stolen. The Sig Sauer Model 552s are semi-automatic rifles that fire the same high-velocity ammunition as the U.S. military issue M-16, and could be easily modified to fire in fully-automatic mode.

With just 104 full-time agents, ALE's primary responsibility is to enforce state laws on the purchase and sale of alcoholic beverages. Though its officers are rarely involved in situations where the use of deadly force is required, ALE is the only state law-enforcement agency to provide every agent with an assault rifle.

The newspaper also reported that Chandler approved the purchase of 150 new Kimber pistols, costing $1,055 each, to replace the sidearms agents have carried less than six years. A high-end American firearms manufacturer, Kimber's Web site says similar pistols are used by U.S. Marines assigned to the elite Special Operations Command and the U.S. Olympic rapid-fire target shooting team, according to Kimber's Web site.

A gun buff and collector, Chandler stood by the purchase last week, saying the new pistols have numerous special features, including an engraving of the ALE seal that would make them easier to track down if stolen.

To see more of The News & Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.newsobserver.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The News & Observer, Raleigh,
N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index