Kansas City cops going back to 9mm

One thing I have noticed over the years when we qualify. The people who only shoot the day we qualify always do poorly.

My department was the last local agency to transition from revolvers, to autoloading handguns for everyone. The issued either a 65 or 686 S&W when I was hired, with FULL power 357 ammo, and now issue a Glock 22 with 180 grain winchester ranger. My department also allows officer owned weapons to be carried with the condtions of a quality manufacture, and either 9x19, 40S&W, or 45ACP only.

When we had revolvers, alot of the guys, especially the part time officers carried either a 5906 smith or a beretta 92. Even the guys that only shot when we qualified, managed to always pass on the first try every year. The guys that still carried the 357 never had a problem then either.

Since we transitioned to issueing the Glock 22, problems came up. Most guys jumped on the Glock 22. The guys that rarely shoot, rarely qualify the first time now. Its a regular thing every year. They arent "shooters" either, its just a firearm, like the radio, cuffs etc, and never practiced with.

I carry and qualify every year with a 1911 in 45acp, and a browning hi-power in 9mm for off duty. Never had a problem with either qualifying. I shoot for fun, and on rare occassion against a friend, or family member. The only shooting classes are the ones I get sent to by work which are rare.

In all honesty. I think, from seeing how the guys at my dept did with 9x19's and now 40S&W's, if it were up to me, I would issue a 9x19 with quality ammo, and allow personal firearms as well, provided they qualify

A shot missed wont stop the threat, and it may injure another innocent person.

Another issue we have, was in 08 and 09, ranger and hst ammo were almost unavailable. It still takes 6-7 months to fill our small order now. We went from keeping 2 cases on hand before 08, to keeping around 10 cases on hand. 9x19 is cheaper as well, so it would allow keeping more ammo in reserve for less cost.
 
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I think a lot of police departments that jumped on the .40 bandwagon will be going back to 9mm. The .40 never had enough advantages over the 9mm to make it worth changing to.
 
MTT TL

The few guys that had the beretta 92's bought and carried them by choice. I guess they were punishing theirself maybe, but those folks did better each year until the Glock 22's in 40 came around.
 
Shot placement is important of course. I'm one of five officers in my department (63 officers) who carries a Glock 19. Everyone else carries the Glock 21. My load is the Federal 124 grain +P HST hollow point. The G21 officers carry the Federal HST load.

I went with the G19 in 06 when we started issuing Glocks to all officers. I don't like the G21 grip size. I don't have large hands. Before then I carried a Sig Sauer P220 (45acp) but it was a single stack.

I shoot the G19 well. It's accurate and easy to operate and maintain. I also have a 12 gauge shotgun in car for extra oomph and a backup S&W Model 49. In additon other officers on my patrol team have AR-15 variants. One of the officers in a SWAT sniper so he has his Remington 700 in .308 with him. We're about as well armed as we can realistically hope to be.

The 9mm has come a long way. Is it perfect? No. But I'm pretty accurate with it.
 
Remember, the bullet you chose may be more important than the caliber.
Click to expand...

Training trumps both.

In the end, it is not about the hardware, its about the "software". Amateurs talk about the hardware (quipment): professionals talk about software (training and mental readiness).
Click to expand...
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman in "On Combat"
 
'The gun, ammo, ETC, failed us NOT me.'

Police Agencies, usually the Gov't they work under, do not blame training or the Police Administration unless they are, as in the Gov't they work under, going to change training or replace the agency head. It's far easier to blame equipment and trade off for something else, sometimes the gun, many times the ammo, at times things like holsters. Police Administrators also do not trust the actual Street Officer/Deputy. That's why Street Cops have to call someone else, Swat or a specially trained Officer, to bring the AR, shotgun or whatever should have been with the Street Officer from the start. Also, in my experience, most Departments do not choose the best gun. They usually choose the gun offered at the best price, the one offered by a company willing to take the old guns as a trade-in, the one the Head of (Firearms) Training likes or the one made by the company closely tied to the Head of Training.
 
Shotgun693 you have a good point. Training, or the lack thereof is rarely blamed. As is the case in my department, if we had a qualification every 3-6 months, instead of every 12 months, or at least some mandentory range time, I think we would see the dificulties some officers have would be less.

Its difficult to change the system to allow for more training. I am sure its the same elsewhere as well.
 
1) They must have got a whole bunch of 9mm real cheap. 2) their officers qual scores improved when they switched to 9mm. I would have to say the switch was made and decided by the people who write their checks. In law enforcement equipment price will always be the biggest determining factor. When you dig deep enough it's ALWAYS about money.
 
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