COMING SUNDAY: Are Iowa Police Departments Armed for Era of Mass Shootings?

In the post-Newtown world, some police departments, campus police and even school district police are racing to be better armed than the assailants carrying out mass shootings at a seemingly greater frequency around the country.

Authoroties in Marion, IA, a sleepy suburb of about 35,000 people to the east of Cedar Rapids, don't want to be caught flat footed if their town becomes the next peaceful place where this sort of thing never ever happens, only to one day find themselves under seige in a flash of terror and violence.

After the Newtown elementary school shooting that left 20 first-graders and six school staff members dead, Marion loaded up. The Marion Police Department ordered AR-15s for each of the 32 officers on the force in a move approved by the city council.

Other police departments in Iowa have different approaches, such as leaving the higher power weapons with SWAT teams or a handful of officers each shift. And, some say preparedness isn't a matter of the weapons police have, but rather the training the officers are now receiving.

On Sunday, Patch will take a look at some of Iowa's police departments, how well-armed they are, and how well prepared they are to handle an active shooter.