HR Funk addresses the question of whether police actually needed to transition from revolvers to semi-auto pistols in the late 1980s and early '90s. I know that most of you will adamantly say "yes" and think it is obvious because of the advantages offered by a semi-auto including increased ammunition capacity, lighter trigger pull (when compared to a revolver in double-action), and ability to mount lights (and, now, optics). And it seemed obvious at the time that the changeover was needed because, as the argument went, police were being outgunned by criminals--particularly the drug cartels and gangs operating in the larger metro areas. (Although, even in the 1980s, many gun gurus noted that the transition to semi-auto pistols was being driven as much or more by popular TV shows and movies--e.g., Miami Vice and Die Hard--as anything happening on the street). I would argue that the switchover was necessitated as departments were loosening up the physical requirements to be a police officer in order to bring on more female officers, and would have happened by the 2000s because of the overall militarization of the police. Certainly by 1980 revolvers had long been obsolete for combat.
The most interesting part to me isn't really Funk's narrative but the comments he had from police officers (mostly retired now) that had been part of the transition, starting out with revolvers and then later being issued semi-auto pistols. Most of these officers seemed to believe that the switchover was mostly unneeded and undesirable. Many commented that prior to the switchover, there was an emphasis on accuracy that was abandoned after the transition. Most believed that the switchover led to cops being more willing to engage in mag dumps rather than using verbal skills or combatives. For instance, one former officer commented:
I was issued a S&W 686 in 1991 as a beat cop in large inner city. A couple of years later we were given the choice of "upgrading" to the 92F. Many of us chose to keep our wheel guns. The reason most of us kept our 686s was that it was such a good weapon for beating people when you had to. Civilians don't understand that most bad guys do not give you time to re-holster your weapon when they decide they want to fight. The weight and ergonomics of the 686 made it a perfect "club" for pistol-whipping. For those that frown on pistol whipping i pose this question, "Would you rather that a cop beats a person that is resisting, or do like most of the "police" do today and mag dump them?" We could have had a good-shoot almost every week if we had the mentality of today's "police". We were trained to use our bodies as weapons to subdue the threat. Firing our weapon was always the very last resort, even with armed suspects. We would not fire until they pointed a gun in our direction and even then, in reality, we gave them a chance to seal their fate by popping off a round. Police today, in general, are not confident in their physical abilities and out of fear mag-dump. Training needs to go back to the way it was in the 90s and take away their autos and give them wheel guns. You will see accuracy go way up and less trigger happy idiots. For situations where needed they can always pull out their ARs.
Most patrol cars in the 1980s and 90s were outfitted with shotguns, but not rifles. Would there have been a perceived need for semi-auto pistols if officers had rifles?
Most cops should be disarmed. Citizens should carry weapons, not government employees.
ReplyDeleteI question the prevalence of SWAT teams. They were originally formed as large units in major cities to deal quickly and decisively with hostage situations such as increasingly happened with bank robberies and terrorist events that became more common in the 1960s and '70s. But no more. According to Wikipedia, "In the United States by 2005, SWAT teams were deployed 50,000 times every year, almost 80% of the time to serve search warrants, most often for narcotics. By 2015 that number had increased to nearly 80,000 times a year." You don't need a paramilitary unit to serve a search warrant.
DeleteInteresting. I think most would agree that modern police training leaves a lot to be desired. Police recruiting has moved into the diversity hiring realm and many officers today are not capable either physically, mentally or emotionally of performing the job.
ReplyDeleteThe physical plays a big role: if the officer isn't physically large and strong enough to deal with criminals, then their encounters with the public will increasingly be influenced by fear.
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