Shot in the dark

A new student at the Odessa College Law Enforcement Academy might not be happy when it's time to write a check for admissions this fall - they'll have to pay almost twice as much as past students in a one-time collected fee.

This will be the first time in almost eight years the academy has raised any of its fees, said Robert Muñoz, OC's dean of Technical and Workforce Education. The fee will almost double - going to $450 from $264.

Odessa College's trustees approved the increase in a recent budget workshop. Clayton Alred, vice president of instruction, proposed changes in the Workforce Education fees because fuel costs and ammunition costs have virtually tripled in the last two years.

William Green, the main buyer for Wholesale Hunter in Missouri, said the cheaper end of .223-caliber rifle cartridge is what the military uses for its guns. In the last couple of years, he's watched the price of a box of .223 ammunition jump from $2.19 to $7 in wholesale prices, which he said is "huge."

"The government sucked up all of the .223-caliber cartridges because they must supply the military ammunition first," Green said. In fact, he said his company didn't even have .223 ammunition in stock for more than two years.

The police academy isn't the only entity affected.

The Odessa Police Department uses .223 cartridges for its patrol rifles - the same ammunition the military uses. These rifles are typically AR-15s and M16s.

Sgt. Carlos Chavez is in charge of ammunitions for the Odessa Police Department. Because of the shortage, he said, the PD has had to cut down on training.

"We've had to cut our training in half because you can't shoot, and we don't want to use all our reserve ammunition," Chavez said. He said when reserve ammunition runs out, there's nothing for the policeman on the job.

Training will be cut back for academy students as well. The students can't show up whenever they want to practice anymore, Chavez said.

Chavez is the go-to guy for training once the academy students are ready.

Training for TABC, DPS and FBI officers has seen a pinch as well.

Recently an FBI agent couldn't qualify at the FBI range because there wasn't enough ammunition. Chavez had to qualify him at the police range.

Chavez said he began to notice the ammunition supply pinch two or three years ago.

"It's hard to come by. I put an order in last February, and I didn't get it until this January," Chavez said. He said before the war it would only take a couple of weeks.

Both Green and Chavez said the continuing war has greatly affected ammunition prices.

Chavez said everything from .45, .40, 9 mm to .308-caliber for sniper rifles and even shotgun shells has gone up.

Some the military uses, and some it doesn't, but demand affects everything from lead to brass casing and powder, Chavez said. Then there's production costs fueled by rising energy prices.

Among the factors that caused these prices to soar are commodities, the waning strength of the U.S. dollar and an increase in steel prices, Green said. 

"Prices have doubled on the wholesale end 250 percent, which is huge. It's out of control," Green said.

Now price increases are being passed on to students, but Muñoz said he doesn't think these new fees will turn people away from the academy.

"I think people will know why there was an increase," he said.

GOIN' UP

Other fees that will go up due to fuel costs at OC:

>> Driver's Education: To $325 from $269.

>> Marine Ecology Travel Fee: To $360 from $260.