Police Weapons
Police in the United States usually carry a handgun on duty. Many are required to be armed on-duty and often required to have a concealable off-duty handgun. Among the most common sidearms are models produced by Glock, Smith & Wesson, SIG Sauer, Beretta, and Heckler & Koch, usually in 9mm, .40 S&W, .357 SIG (US Secret Service & other Federal Law Enforcement agencies) or .45 ACP.
Until the late 1980s and early 1990s, most US police officers carried revolvers, typically in .38 Special or .357 Magnum calibers, as their primary duty weapons. At the time, Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger and some Taurus models were popular with police officers, most popular being the Smith & Wesson or Colt revolvers. Since then, most agencies have switched to semiautomatic pistols. Two key events influencing many US police forces to upgrade their primary duty weapons to weapons with greater stopping power and round capacity were the 1980 Norco shootout and the 1986 FBI Miami shootout.
Some police departments allow qualified officers to carry shotguns and/or semiautomatic rifles in their vehicles for additional firepower, typically to be used if a suspect is involved in an active shooter situation, or a Hostage/barricade incident.
Read more about this topic: Law Enforcement In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words police and/or weapons:
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Boys should not play with weapons more dangerous than they understand.”
—E.T.A.W. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Wilhelm)