Occasionally an incident will happen that sends ripples through the law enforcement community. One that has received a lot of attention was the April 11, 1986, Miami Shootout between a couple bank robbers and the FBI that fundamentally changed our perceptions of what was acceptable performance from handgun ammo. It was from that shootout that the FBI studied handgun bullet effectiveness and developed the famous FBI standards on penetration and performance that still drive bullet design.
But another incident that was probably just as significant was the North Hollywood Shootout of February 28, 1997. On that day, two bank robbers--Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu--walked out of a bank and immediately began a 44 minute shootout with police outside the bank which moved into an adjoining neighborhood. At the end of the shootout, over 1,600 rounds had been fired by the robbers and police; Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were mortally wounded; and 12 officers, 8 civilians had been wounded.
The reason the shootout lasted 44 minutes was because of the equipment used by the robbers and the police. As a Guns America article on the shootout relates:
[The robbers] each wore body armor bodged together from commercial Aramid components covering their chests, groins, shins, thighs, and forearms. Matasareanu included a steel strike plate in his ensemble to protect his vital organs. They had each sewed watches into the backs of their gloves and took phenobarbital to calm their nerves. ...
[snip]
They had one Norinco Type 56 S-1 underfolder that had been illegally converted to full auto along with several Chinese-made 75 and 100-round drums. It is impossible to deploy an underfolding AK stock with a drum in place, but Larry Phillips still ran this weapon efficiently on full auto even with the stock folded.
[snip]
The loadout included a Bushmaster XM15 Dissipator. The Dissipator featured standard M16A1 triangular handguards, a stubby16-inch barrel, and a collapsible stock along with a 100-round Beta C-mag. The Dissipator looks a little weird but illegally converted to full auto it was a formidable close combat tool. They also wielded a German HK91A3 with extended 30-round mags. These magazines were formed by welding two 20-round magazine bodies together.
Conversely, the responding officers were armed only with their issued 9mm pistols or .38 Special revolvers, with some having shotguns. The body armor used by the robbers made them nearly impervious to the officer's weapons. (Although some officers were authorized to obtain rifles from a nearby gun store, the sources I've read indicted that none of those weapons were put to use). Ultimately, though, the robbers were wounded. Phillips put a pistol below his chin but was shot in the neck. He died of his wounds. Mătăsăreanu bled to death from his wounds while police secured the area before allowing EMTs in to care for him. He had been shot 20 times below the waist.
As a Mag-Life article relates:
After reviewing the incident, the LAPD took a hard look at its response and how it could do better in the future. The Department took on the suspects with department-issued 9mm pistols, shotguns, and a few officers had rifles chambered in .223. It was decided that in addition to ongoing training for department-wide preparedness for any future incidents of this magnitude, officers would have the option to use .45 ACP pistols, AR-15s chambered in .223, and 12-gauge shotguns in addition to upgraded pistol ammunition options. Police vehicles were reportedly upgraded with Kevlar panels in the side to help protect officers from rounds.
But it didn't just stop with the LAPD. This incident is generally credited with boosting the then-growing impetus across the nation to arm police officers with patrol rifles. For instance, a Police Magazine article on the shootout relates:
A month later, the chief of the Omaha (Neb.) Police Department asked its SWAT commander to write a position paper outlining the need and justification of arming our patrol personnel with intermediate (5.56x45mm) rifles. With the backing of the chief and a strong-willed deputy chief who always remembered the streets from where he came, the department graduated its first patrol rifle class in November of 1997.
Sources:
- "North Hollywood shootout"--Wikipedia.
- "Historical Shootouts: Lessons Learned and Their Impact on Training" by Jason Mosher, Safariland.
- "Guns of the North Hollywood Shootout: Life Imitates Art" by Will Dabbs, Guns America.
- "North Hollywood Shootout: 44 Minutes That Changed Law Enforcement" by Patti Miller, The Mag Life.
- "How the North Hollywood Shootout Changed Patrol Arsenals" by Bob Parker, Police Magazine.
- "20 years ago, a dramatic North Hollywood shootout changed the course of the LAPD and policing at large"--Los Angeles Times.
- "Report to police commission on North Hollywood shootout"--LA Times.
- "How the North Hollywood shootout changed policing" by Dana Bartholomew, Police 1.
- "When Bank Robbery Went Wild: Remembering the North Hollywood Shootout"--The History Of Everything Blog.
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