St. Paul, MN police going over to the 9MM, dumping the .40.

[SHOOTALL]

I am kind of bias towards the 9mmP round.  Other than that, the 40SW is a better round but what I see here is simply an effort to jump-start the economy.  If that's what it is, then great.
Just my 2 cents.
 
Camba

Who's Austria's ?

[Swampman]

I wouldn't trust my life to anything but a Glock on a daily basis.  Couldn't they just rebarrel the Glocks the curently have to 9mm?  I like the 9mm myself.

[JPShelton]

I know of one PD who went to the Glock .40s several years ago, and issued hollowpoint ammo, but after one high-publicity shooting, they went to the FMJ flatpoint.  Another PD issues the FMJ slugs and requires them to be on hand for shift inspection, but allows the officers to use personally-obtained HP once on duty. 

This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. In an urban environment, over-penetration is a real concern for law enforcement, and that is part of the reason why MOST law enforcement agencies in this country rely on some kind of hollow pointed duty ammo.
 
I was a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office during the transition from wheelguns (I carried my own 6" Model 66 Smith and Wesson) to semi-automatics (Beretta 92F 9mm).  We shot our quarterly qualifications with FMJ rounds.  Our duty ammo was initially 115 grain hollowpoints. Later, we switched to 147 grain truncated cone hollow points.  Throughout my training on the LASO, I was brainwashed into believing that the Glock was a POS.  Care to guess what LASO uses now?
 
I'm told they're issuing Glock .40's.  I suspect that money was a factor here, more than anything.  The unit cost of manufacture on a Glock is most likely less than it was on a Beretta 92F.  I suspect that they can therefore be sold at a lower cost.  When I was on the LASO, we had around 8,000 sworn personnel.  That's a lot of people to provide duty weapons for, and if option A) is $50.00 less than option B), you can bet that A) is what will become departmental issue.  Outfits like the LASO don't pay what you and I do for a Glock, or most anything else.  While I don't doubt that people who like them have very valid reasons for doing so, I also don't doubt that the reason they have become so popular among law enforcement agencies here is cost.  In the battle of "works and expensive" vs. "works and does it cheap," the latter will win, every time. 
 
JP

[barber]

   Cops here fire 20 or 30 rounds, maybe hit the guy 3 times, using 9mms, I agree with those who say go back to the ,357   9and [have them PRACTICE]

[SHOOTALL]

some say 1 in 7 hits for police . Is that bad when being fired at ?

[sidewinder319]

It is funny enough to make one cry. The PC government wants low profile shootings with more correct small arms. But when the BATF sells illegal guns to the Mexican Mafia it is AK 47s,AR 15s High Cap 45s.  You have to wonder who side is the government really on??

[dakotashooter2]

Probably wanted the extra capacity to keep up with the gangs.....................

[williamlayton]

Let's make lemonaid. Why squeel, here is a chance to get some good, and little shot, Glocks in .40 if you want them.
I don't know anybody that rejoiced at being shot with a 9mm.
Blessings

[WD45]

The reasoning of going to a lower recoiling cal due to higher accuracy and quicker follow up shots has been around for a long time wether it be military or police. It seems to me some departments do this for a few years then swap back to the more potent round.The double tap mantra was adopted to compensate for lower stopping ability. Thats assuming that the BG is actually hit twice. The capaicity to carry more rounds in one clip is another reason touted for a smaller caliber but if it takes 2 of 1 to equal 1 of another then its a moot point. Now I'm not knocking higher capcity guns one bit. I like all the fire power I can get especially if there is more than one BG. It's the thing of sending a man out on the street and telling him dont worry bout the round you're issued its fine ... as long as you shoot them twice.... that bothers me.. Maybe they should just practice until they are proficient using a more potent round.

[temmi]

There are lots of reasons that departments pick rounds, effectiveness is rairly one of them
 
 
Just sayen
 

[reliquary]

Prior to my Army career, I was on a Texas Gulf Coast city PD for a short time (1965).  They required us to use a 4" barrelled revolver in .38 Special.  You could carry the (gasp, shudder, too powerful) .357 if you wished, but were limited to .38 Sp rounds in the cylinder.
 
 We were issued the 130-grain FMJ round...PC has been around a long time...most everyone replaced them with heavier handloads in the .38 Sp case once shift inspection was over. 
 
As I've said before, most departments today have done away with height/weight standards to increase "diversity", and most cops don't put in enough time on the range to become really proficient, so you're left with the need for a low-recoil, hi-cap "spray&pray", relatively fool-proof, pistol.  Add into that equation the increasing CYA PC attitude of the administration, and this is what you get.  Then, after something like the North Hollywood shootout they come back to their senses for a while.