There are an increasing number of articles in the various "police" magazines, touting various tools that police officers supposedly need to do their jobs. Of course, it is no coincidence that the makers of these "necessities" have full page ads in close proximity to the articles, but hey, that's just business. Law Officer Magazine believes that you need to make objective judgments about what you really need to do your job and succeed. In fact, this article was prompted when another publication claimed that, if you were to be a "real operator", you had to carry their featured custom pistol. The fact that it cost over $3,000 should be no obstacle, because ""real operators"" need this gun! BULL!
Now, I was only an officer for 27 years, and only put right at 1,000 people into federal prison. Perhaps these salesmen, er, writers, have more experience than I do. But objectively, do you need a $300 pocket knife? A $500 watch? $250 boots? Or that $3,000 handgun? No! Want, perhaps, but need? No way.
Let us start with one of the more common tools virtually every officer carries, a knife. Just the other day I ran into a Fish and Game officer who does carry a $250 knife. He showed it to me after he undid the Velcro sealed pocket and struggled with the extra tight clip that held the knife securely in place. It is a fine example of American craftsmanship, sharp as a razor, strong, and good looking. But will it cut any better than that $60 knife another officer carried? How about the well used-knife by a major maker I picked up used at a gun show for $25?
Of course the risk for the F&G officer is that he might lose his knife in the woods a not unreasonable fear. And with a new baby at his house, the odds are his wife would object to spending that much money again to replace a cutting tool. Thus, it was clipped and sealed away, useful in certain circumstances when time would allow him to retrieve it. But how about when things go horribly wrong, and he needs his knife now? My knife is not pretty, but then neither am I. It shows lots of use, but still sharpens razor sharp. And if I should lose it or even break it, I'm out $25 not hundreds. And both knives can cut, their only function.
Lights
Right in there with knives are lights. Yes, you absolutely need a hand-held light. But are the features on the $200 light really six times better than the $35 dollar light? How do you really use a light in your daily routine? Do you need the strobe effect, auto dimming, auto brightening, 16 light levels, etc. etc.? Or do you mostly need to see into the car you stop at night, or the corners of the dark building you are searching on an "unknown trouble" call? Would two light levels (really bright for searching, and low level for looking at ID and writing tickets) do? And what is with "strike bezels"? Do you really need all those edges to cut up your attacker, when you have a belt full of less lethal options that can control him/her/it without exposing you to their blood? I never wanted to stay in close to a suspect and fight it out. I wanted to create space and escalate my force level to deadly force if justified. Getting sprayed with his/her/its blood (and the microbes in it) was absolutely not in my game plan!
Shoes and boots
Footwear is a bit more personal, and can be more job specific. Clearly, an officer working days in a city may need a different boot than the sheriff's deputy working in a remote area. But will the $200 boots really work better than the $50 boots on the next page in the catalogue? Yes, they may last a bit longer, but if they both fit equally well, a four to one price difference is a big savings. And with all the hazardous materials that may end up on your boots, like oil, antifreeze, blood, gore, chemicals, and the plain old muck we always seem to be plowing through, how long do you really want to wear those boots? Follow a suspect through a cattle feed pen and then tell me how long you can stand the smell of "processed" hay!
Another item that galls me is watches. "Wear the watch that top fighter pilots wear!" claim the ads. Now think about this. I happen to know a couple of real fighter pilots, and one test pilot. Real fighter pilots wear flight suits and Nomex gloves. They try to avoid having any skin showing, anyplace. And built into the instrument panel of every aircraft is a chronometer (a really accurate clock). It takes both hands to fly a high performance aircraft, so just how does the pilot look at his wristwatch? Not during flight, that's for sure. Many of them do choose fancy, complex watches, mostly for the CDI (Chicks Dig It) factor, once they are out of the cockpit. But the rule is "no jewelry around aircraft."
The test pilot said they all wore inexpensive, analog watches. Their main function was to make sure they got cleaned up to make it to the "O" club on time. The tactically aware police officers I know, the "operators" if you will, tend to wear inexpensive watches. They work under the same "If I lose it or break it, so what?" theory. Oh, if you feel you need to impress people with your expensive watch, go buy one. But put on your "El Cheapo" for work.
Custom Firearms
I have carried highly modified and even custom-made guns. I fully understand the pride in having a top of the line, one-of-a-kind firearm, perhaps with your name engraved on it. But is it really any better than the factory-made, production line model? For nine years, I was the lead firearms instructor at my agency's academy. After running a couple of thousand students from all over the country through our in-service officer survival classes, I came to certain conclusions. One was that our service pistol, no matter how abused, would always fire the first two magazines (a total of 27 rounds) without a problem. Our principal repair kit on the range was a small bottle of lubricant! A few drops on the slide rails and barrel, and they were good to go. So, for the officers who were not interested in guns, this handgun was a fine choice.
Since I had the opportunity, I ran a test with my own issued handgun. Almost every day I had the chance to run two magazines of factory ammunition through my pistol, some days more a lot more. Then I would clean it, lube it, and reload it. After several years of this, I came to an important conclusion: You will go broke buying ammo before you will make a well broken in, stock factory gun malfunction with factory ammo.
Very well, what do you need in a handgun?
- Reliability
- A modicum of accuracy
- A reasonable caliber (.38, 9mm or larger)
- Reliable (read: factory) magazines
- Training
- Practice
- Reliability
Do you need to shoot the wings off a fly at 25 yards? No, even if you are involved in pest control. You need to be able to hit a four-inch circle at about half that distance, that being half the diameter of the average human head, and about twice the distance of most police shootings. If the suspect is 25 yards away, you really need a) backup and b) a long gun. Your handgun should be used to fight your way to your long gun, after you call for help on your radio.
Do you need 18 magazines, all fitted to your pistol? No, three total is enough, as long as they all work reliably. Do you need the latest super-hard finish? Nice, but not needed. How about night sights? Now here is something I would say "yes, you do need them" at least I did in my job. Laser? No, because it will not show who you are shooting at. Attached gun light? This can be a good thing, but only if you can also use it handheld off the gun. I do not want to go searching for the lost little girl with my gun out, and I doubt you do either.
How about rifles? Do you need to hang every available bit of "go faster" gear on your carbine (or shotgun)? Let's see, that would include but not be limited to: forward vertical grip, laser, optic sights, back up iron sights, white light, infrared illuminator, night vision sight, spare magazine, spare batteries for everything, spare firing pin and extractor, bipod, special 1/2/3/4 point sling, etc., etc. No wonder a seven-pound rifle now weighs 12 pounds! Oh, I left out the latest bolt on a digital camera to record your shooting!
I know, all the pictures from Iraq show M4s with all this stuff on them. But do you need them? How many of you reasonably anticipate a sudden call out to take on a terrorist cell, all by yourself? Yes, if you are on SWAT, that could happen except for the 'by yourself' part. But as a patrol officer, that is highly unlikely. I can see having an optic sight, although with the high level of reliability now available, I question the need for backup iron sights. A white light is always a good thing. A vertical forward grip may be useful, if you have trained with it, and if it is not likely to get hung up on everything around you. But skip the rest of it, unless you have another source of income to pay for it, and you train intensively with it.
All right, you just saved all that money by not buying every high-dollar doodad and thingamajig. What should you do with your money? Invest it in yourself, by investing in training. You see, training is transferable. Tactics I learned when we carried revolvers work just as well, or even better, with semi-autos. Knowing the law is also a survival tactic, so spend a bit on that as well. With ammo prices through the roof, you still really need to put some rounds down range, as no technology will compensate for a lack of skill on your part. Outside training can give you a different perspective on your tactics, and give you additional tools for your tool box.
Perhaps the best example I have seen of spending your money wisely happened a few years back, at our state Police Olympics. In the sniper rifle competition, there were several teams with the latest, greatest, state-of-the-art rifles, scopes, elbow pads, laser rangefinders, super match ammunition, etc. Then there was Zack, a Border Patrol Agent friend of mine, with an old, beat-up hunting rifle with the finish worn off the action and stock. Care to guess who won the match? Seems Zack had owned that rifle for years, shot it frequently, and collected a deer every year with it, with just one shot. While the "operators" were computing wind drift and bullet drop, ol' Zack was putting lead on target. Zack had the years of experience and training with that rifle, scope, and ammo.
So the next time you see some really cool, high CDI factor item, or read an article about how "owning this item makes you a real operator," take a moment. You, and only you, know exactly what you do every day. Thus, only you are qualified to say if this new item fits into a real need, or is just to feed your ego. We can all dream up scenarios where we will need all this exotic stuff we called it "the attack of the zombies" dreams. The guys who did this quickly became "that guy," my favorite being an officer who never carried a shotgun, but did carry 24 rounds of shotgun ammo on his vest. Why? "If some one else a) brings a shotgun, b) runs it out of ammo, or c) is wounded or drops it, "I'll have ammo for it!". Dream on, brother (He did carry our issue rifle, with multiple magazines).
That is right up there with "so I can loan more ammo to another officer". Let us think that one through: He/she has proven they cannot handle the problem, and now they want MY ammo? "Take cover buddy, I'll handle it!" would be my response.
Training fills real needs, even though most Chicks Don't Dig It. Even supervisors sometimes don't understand the need for additional training. But what can be cooler than coming home, uninjured, every night? Chicks dig live cops! After all is said and done, survival is the only victory!