Ithaca went through tough times. I do believe their catalogs from the mid 90's listed riot versions but I tried to get one in 96 and they weren't producing and haven't produced them since for public consumption. They have said, however, that a police order would be welcome. I, at one time, considered purchasing a lot of, say, 20 from them. I dropped the plan but still think if a dealer went to them with such an order they would produce a small lot. In the meantime, buy a Chinese gun and do some action smoothing on it. These really aren't that bad. I've handled a handful of them recently and all but one seemed decent. The one in question would jam to the rear when cycled and I had to use considerable force to slide it forward. A little buffing, deburring, polishing, and general fitting would make the gun quite acceptable for home defense. And at around $150 selling price they are worth the money for sure.
So far as the barrel length, I do not believe Ithaca ever produced an 18.5" barrel. They went from 20" to 14" for their AOW guns. I don't have the catalogs nor can I confirm this either. As for me, I've made about 5 cutoff guns in my time and still have two. All were 18.5" and none had front sights. These were strictly pistol-grip backpack guns for bear protection.
[This message has been edited by badgerarms (edited August 12, 2000).]