- The Thompson "Tommy gun" submachine gun may have been good enough for "The Untouchables," but it isn't of much use in modern-day crime fighting, so Tinley Park Police Chief Steve Neubauer would like to put the department's stock of the iconic firearms up for sale.
Of course, that would be only two Tommy guns, along with four Vietnam vintage M-16 rifles, that have been kept in the armory inventory for the department since the 1960s, when Tinley Police got them from the federal government as Army surplus.
Neubauer said he has no idea if they've been used in the decades since, and he's asked village officials to put them up for auction, where they might fetch more than $70,000 from collectors.
"There is no use for weapons like these in 2012 urban policing," Neubauer said.
Says you Chief. We can name three south side districts that would welcome this firepower tomorrow.