pyral

I am not at all familiar with law enforcement trends or equipment issues so this may be a bit of an idiotic question, but here goes...

Why is it that the large majority (or all) of law enforcement agencies tend to carry the double action autoloaders like the Glock? I cannot recall ever seeing a single 1911 style sidearm although I do recall a few Berettas. Whats the purpose behind this?

Just curious. Thanks guys

Ruger-Redhawk

Actually Glock calls it their "Safe Action" pistol. It's really not a true double action.I'm not in Law Enforcement but I'm sure the reason is getting the first shot off faster.Squeeze it and go instead of having to take the time to pull the hammer back.There might be other reasons I'm not aware of but I would think that's the main reason why.
Ruger Redhawk

Briman

Glocks require a whole lot less training than a beretta or 1911.
They also look alot less threatening looking than a locked and cocked 1911.
Glocks are much cheaper than 1911's, and probably a bit cheaper than berettas if a police force buys them in numbers.

To me glocks seem to be the semiauto equivalent of a da revolver- pull the trigger and it goes boom, no safeties or decockers to worry about.

Whether Glocks are better than a DA/SA or SA autoloader is debateable, and with alot of recent reports of Glocks in .45 and .40 going kaboom in the hands of policemen, I'd rather hold something in my hand that is made of metal.

Danny45

Pretty much sums it up. Having been in law enforcement, budget constraints and civil liability are the two main determining factors. The department where I worked tried Glocks, but finally replaced them all with Sig .40's. You could even choose which model you wanted, full size or mid size.

Nomercy

Much of this is because of liability issues, departments are forced to issue or force officers to carry DAO's often anymore because manual safeties are a liability....if a cops 1911 AD's because of a safety failure, and it leaks to the press that cops carry their guns loaded and cocked all day, you WILL NOT be able to convince the mass public that Condition 1 is the safest manner of carry for the 1911 and especially will not convince them after the AD did occur that the 1911 in Cond 1 is safe. I've also been told by a local police chief that another liability would come up in a gun fight, say a cop forgets to take his safety off and gets shot, he might sue the dept for issuing a gun to him that's too complex to use, since there are precedents out there that claim DAO's are better, the dept would have a tough case to defend itself.

I'm as disheartened as the next guy that LEO's don't get to carry 1911's anymore, even moreso that they can't carry revolvers anymore, but that era is gone.

My only true gripe with it is the fact that bad guys can have guns that are more inherently accurately shootable than our boys in blue, Double actions don't lend themselves to accurate speed shooting, even in well trained hands, and MANY departments' issue listings are written as such that not even DA/SA's or decockers are allowed!!! I'm not prone to believing that glocks are that much safer than say a Ruger P-97DC, DA/SA, gives a fast first shot and easier/more accurate follow ups with the safety of a decocker.

thndrchiken

Like Nomercy said, liability I know several NJ and PA state troopers and they are issued dao guns with lawyer triggers, however the common carry gun for these guys is either a compact 1911, beretta 96 or short barreled 357's as an ankle gun.

pyral

Thanks for the replies guys. You helped to settle a little personal curiosity.

Here is another question, which may be a little stupid, although....

If an officer of any branch were unsatisfied with the performance or reliabity of that branch's particular issued arm, could they at their discretion, choose to purchase and carry a different firearm for their own personal satisfaction, or do various liabilities and codes ban such?

Thanks again guys.

cwhitenton

The Govt agencies who carry them get mega discounted prices, the pistols are pretty much fool proof (good thing) and they are easy to maintain. Lightweight, recoil for smaller or female officers is managable. Many agencies still carry 9mm, not the best in my opinion but that's always debatable. No real science to the reason, that's basically it.

akbound

Hi pyral,

There are numerous reasons that handguns like the Glock have become so popular with law enforcement agencies. Liability and ease of training being just two of them. If you'd care to spend some time reading about this and a number of other issues particularly related to LEO and armed defense I'd recommend the following site:

http://www.defense-training.com/quips/quips.html

The information presented here is eclectic and requires some time to read through. But it's good, solid information and well worth the time invested for anyone serious about furthering their understanding of these issues.

Hope the information helps, and you find it both interesting and useful!

Dave

Nomercy

No, typically cops CANNOT buy any gun they want and use it on duty-what they carry while off duty is their business, but the liability concerns are not negotiable.

I know of a few former Kansas State Troopers that did just that, bought 1911's to carry on the job, someone found out in the "higher ups" and they were repremanded, one didn't take the threat seriously and was caught again with a 1911, he's not a Trooper any more because of it! If it would come down to it and something happened that could be blamed on the fact that he carried an unapproved gun, then the entire force would be at fault for him breaking the rules.

There are many departments that issue one or two specific guns (usually just one pistol) but follow to have a list of "acceptable" guns that officers MAY use as their duty sidearm, however, these lists are still DAO's of certain makes and models, basically it's only a list that lets people find a gun they'll hate a little less than what their department issues-they can pick out a gun that fits them a little better, or maybe they want to upgrade to a .40S&W from issued 9mms (most 9mm issue departments don't allow .45's from what I've found, they claim it's too hard to shoot-I say DAO's are too hard to shoot!!!)

Basically, LEO's are stuck with what they get, or at least something very similar.