LEO use of revolvers in 2014

LEO revolvers

I realize this has been a while back but I was rear ended in Chicago in 2010 and the LEO that responded to the accident was carrying a Ruger Security Six.I was flabbergasted that in that place he wasn't carrying an Uzi!
 
Not a LEO example, but a nearby branch of a national bank has started posting a security guard outside near the ATM's.
I've seen several of the guards over the past month - both male and female - and all are carrying either Ruger or S&W revolvers. (No semis and definitely no 'plastic'...)
 
Technically a "LEO" - game wardens carry revolvers often. Usually in heavier than normal calibers. Of course this makes sense given the typical use isn't "typical" for other law enforcement officers.

And of course all generalizations are false and not all Game Wardens carry revolvers.
 
I've been a city police officer here in Idaho for 14 years. My primary sidearm is the Glock 19. My backup is a S&W Model 49 Bodyguard and I've been carrying that exact same revolver as my BUG for 12 years.
 
Denver PD still allows 625 Smiths for some of the old guys, no new officers can use them.
Aurora PD, still a few really old-timers hanging onto .357 wheelguns.

4 years ago, before I put down the badge, we had a bad range day, every semi-auto jammed/failed.
Bad ammo.

Me, I just dug an old Smith .41 Mag out of the trunk, qualified with it again on the semi-auto course and went back to work. We re-qualified with good ammo the next day.

Last I knew, there were still a few LAPD and NYPD guys with wheelguns as primary. But not many.
 
I've been carrying a 642 as a back up for over a dozen years now and use it for off duty carry on occasion. Just got my model 60 Pro today and will qualify with it next week. It just may bump my Kahr K40 to become my primary off-duty weapon.
 
I was in LA in front of the Staples Center and a couple motorcycle cops were managing traffic. I was surprised to see one with a large wheelgun on his hip. I told him I was surprised to see him carrying that, but he did not much want to chat. I probably offended him, or he just figured I was guy who did not appreciate history and quality.
 
The are still quite a few Chicago coppers who carry them. If the revolver was the standard issue when they started, they can continue with it.
 
In Boston there are "Special" police, they are issued a badge and ID, but are not employed by the city. They have the power to arrest. They are basically private security guards, that are tested and approved by the city of Boston Police Dept.

If they are qualified to carry a gun, it has to be a .38 special revolver with at least a 4inch barrel loaded with 158gr +p hollow point ammo.
 
I suspect that revolvers are probably a bit more common in smaller, more rural departments particularly those which require the officer to provide his own gun. When I was growing up in central IL in the 90's/early 2000's, most of the city and county PD's required their officers to provide their own gun within a set of criteria (only certain calibers approved, gun must be from a good quality maker). For example, I know that, at that time the Coles County Sheriff's Dept. allowed either .45 ACP semi-autos or .357 Magnum revolvers.

Growing up, two of my friends' dads were cops that carried revolvers. One was a Sheriff's Deputy and carried, according to his son, an eight-shot .357 Magnum (not sure if it was a S&W 627 or Taurus 608). The other was a city cop and, on the couple of occasions I saw him in uniform, he appeared to be carrying a blued Colt Python.
 
I was in LA in front of the Staples Center and a couple motorcycle cops were managing traffic. I was surprised to see one with a large wheelgun on his hip
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makes sense really
maybe doesn't want to ride around with a chambered round in a semi? and hard to chamber one handed, you can't reload anyway so...

us mc cops still have the throttle on the left side like old indian motorcycles?
 
Thanks for the replies guys!

This is VERY interesting! Glad to see the old wheelgun is still used to some capacity by Law Enforcement, if very small.
 
I carried a 4" Sw 66 until 2002, when the Sheriff issued us SW M&P pistols. The last time I was at the main office, I noticed one old Lieutenant, still carrying his SW66.
 
Husqvarna: us mc cops still have the throttle on the left side like old indian motorcycles?
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No. Cycles in our market have had right-handed throttles for decades. Perhaps you're referring to manual shift levers on the left side, operated by hand? Those are also long-gone. About the only thing NOT standardized in cycle controls are turn-signals. Harley still uses a fat button on each grip for that side's signal. Almost all else have the 'universal' L<--->R style swtich on the LH grip.

I am shocked when I see even a security/armored guard here in the city anymore with a revolver in uniform.
 
A few years ago I was in the Philly airport and a city cop went by with some sort of revolver on his hip......but he was riding a Segway! Kind of a mix of the old and the new, huh?
 
Regarding this revolver and auto stuff, as several cops told me back in the 1980s, and 1990s, when the switch was being made from revolver to auto and
the .38 was still the norm, why not carry a 12 or 15 shot 9mm auto that works just as well as a 6 shot revolver.

I love revolvers but......firepower rules no matter how good a shot you are or think you are.
 
When I worked in Boston, the federal guards for the Tip O'Neil and JFK carried 4" Ruger GP100...I was very surprised myself at the time...

Laura
 
One of the pluses of LEO/Security being issued revolvers is that they can be equipped with a magna trigger, Thus equipped, they cannot be fired without the shooter wearing a special ring on his shooting hand middle finger.
 
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