Facing a yearlong shortage in ammunition for the Roseville Police Department, the Roseville City Council recently approved a bid to buy handgun ammo early and from another supplier.

“We had a shortage of our duty ammo,” said Roseville Police Sgt. Cal Walstad.

“We are trying to get back up to speed.”

The Roseville Police Department continues to face delays in acquiring ammunition from vendors due to a worldwide shortage of raw materials and an unprecedented demand from law enforcement, military and civilian markets, city officials said.

“It could have been the war,” Walstad said.

The department’s previous Grass Valley supplier, Miwall Corporation, and the newly awarded bid supplier Adamson Police Products refused comment.

“Last year we paid $249.00 per thousand (rounds) for our duty, .40 caliber, pistol ammunition,” said Lt. Stephan Moore. “The price has risen 20 percent in the last year to $299.”

In fact, he said, the price has shot up 42 percent in the last two years and forced eight- to nine-month delays for delivery.

“We’ve had the foresight to know we were getting low. In that time we were able to get training rounds to make sure that it didn’t delay any training,” Walstad said.

Even though the last time an officer discharged his weapon on duty was 2007, Walstad said every officer is expected to train on the shooting range regularly to stay accurate.

“It’s not being used on the street regularly,” Walstad said. “Most of our ammunition is used in training. It is a perishable skill that they need to continue to practice.”

And Roseville goes through a lot of .40 caliber handgun ammo. Each officer is expected to use between 50 to 100 rounds per session, officials said.

“We qualify every six months with our handgun, once a year with the long rifle,” Walstad said.

In between, the officers are allocated training rounds to practice once a month.

Lt. Moore said that may change as it’s an unnecessary inconvenience.

“During this dilemma, we had officers use practice rounds during training, but load and carry duty rounds while working,” Moore said. “Both have cost us the same.”

The difference between the training and the duty round can be felt.

“The primary differences are felt in recoil, which has an effect on accuracy, and quality of manufacture,” Moore said. “Duty rounds are produced to higher quality-control standards and tend to be more reliable than the training rounds we’ve acquired.”

Some agencies use extra protective gear for the training rounds on the hands and groin, neck and head. Roseville Police do not, Walstad said.

The ammo shortage problem is widespread as Roseville was approached by other police agencies for help.

“During the initial stages of the shortage, we were approached by two or three agencies asking if we had any surplus they could buy,” Moore said.

Roseville Police officials refused their requests.

City officials said the $30,464.36 expense of the current order of ammunition will come out of the police department’s 2008-2009 budget.

Lt. Moore said the department will be ordering ahead of time from now on to make sure it doesn’t affect patrol officers.

“So far, we’ve been able to meet our own needs,” Moore said.