i have a couple of Questions for all of the police officers on the forum.

[mg357]

Dear Colt forum, i have a couple of questions for all of the police officers here on the forum. I'm working on a short story and it features a small town police force a sheriff two deputies and one detective
Here are my questions. First would all of these law enforcement officers carry the same model service handgun? second would there service handguns be in the same exact caliber?
sincerely and respectfully mg357 a proud member of the colt forum.

[feralmerril]

mg357, for openers you would call the sheriff "chief" not sheriff. Sheriff is the head leo of a county, not a village or town unless the town or city sub contracts to the county for their law enforcement. That happens but the sheriff wouldnt be working with a couple deputys out of a village, he would be the pujab of the entire county department.
With a small department anything is possible with what guns they carry. Could vary.

[msheak]

mg357. Interesting question. In the county I am living in here in Texas, the Sheriff and the deputies are all carrying 45 Colt autos either full size or comanders. In asking the Sheriff about this he states it is because it helps with the cost of ammo, and clips, which they buy in bulk. This department is small, (20 total) . The city officers carry what they are comfortable with, but there are only three of them, so you see Sig P229's and a Beretta 92. The department I was in before I retired, you carried what you qualified with, and the approval of the department chief deputy. Hope this helps you.

[DPris]

It varies.
Chief is right, as Feral noted.

The old philosophy that everybody in the department had to carry the same gun so everybody would be familiar with it if they ever had to scoop up a downed fellow officer's gun to use themselves in a protracted gunfight went out the window decades ago.

The commonality of caliber often required so officers could toss spare speedloaders or magazines back & forth during a gunfight if one ran low has also died out.

Today, where requirements exist for carrying the same gun it's more based on a quantity bid from a given maker, simplicity for the department armorer in only having to be familiar with one type, and/or simplicity in training where the firearms instructor only has to know one system to teach.

On a small department like you're describing, chances are good that the individual officer might be required to buy his or her own handgun, and it could go either way (all the same or whatever each of the three happens to like) depending on the chief's thoughts on the matter.

Same with calibers, although even smalltown PDs don't require their people to provide their own ammo (normally, anyway), so if the PD is buying it might again be a matter of one caliber just for a volume bid & pricing.

For the detective, typically a smaller gun better suited to concealed carry is either issued or allowed.

Money is frequently the determining factor.
Denis

[Kid Sopris]

Does your Short Story deal with Modern times (today) or years ago ? That is pertinent in that Years ago many LEO's had to purchase their own Firearms, especially in small departments. (Some still do).

[broknaxl]

It is your story, let em carry what ever your imagination come s up with! But really the guys above have some good points. Especially Kids point on what era they are in. Good luck and let us know when the story is finished.
ps - you know the Detective has to carry either a Detective Special or a Cobra !

[Calibre 38]

Back in the "olden days" late 50's early 60's we purchased our own weapons (which I still Have). We had a choise of either a Smith-Wesson (MP) or Colt Revolver (OP) .38 Special with 4" barrel. Off duty were the same choises but could be 2" barrels. The thought being that the ammo was interchangable between officers and our training range had to purchase the same calibre, which they did in bulk and re-loaded wad-cutters for practice....Jim

[bigskydoc]

In the mid nineties, I was a dispatcher/ jailer for a 4 officer plus 1 chief PD in the small Alaska Town where I am from. I was pretty good friends with one of the officers and used to duck hunt with him. I was friendly with a second officer, but not close. I worked with a third officer to qualify for my concealed carry permit.

The make was up to the individual officer with approval from the officer who maintained the qualification records etc. I am uncertain if there was ever a requirement that everyone carry a 45, but certainly under the second chief that I worked for, caliber was not uniform.

The first chief I worked for carried a semi-auto 45 which I never really did figure out the make of. Among the 4 officers there was one Glock, one Para, one Colt and one that I never figured out. I wasn't close enough to that chief or the other officer to ask. The second chief I worked for carried a Colt Python and could outshoot all the others with the exception of number of rounds.

I never asked about back up guns, but I did happen to glimpse a couple of small guns that appeared to be paras.

Hope that helps.

[kevink]

DPris is spot on......NH 1997 to present

[XB40]

The date line will establish a lot of factors. Like already stated, 60's early 70's revolvers, Colts or S&W's. Small town, COP, Chief of Police, not a sheriff. Ammo was usually 38 or 357. 1980's would be transitional. Automatics started replaceing revolvers. Mostly 9mm's, some 45"s for the diehards. Small town PD's usually up to the individual officer, however peer pressure usually won over, and they would all move one way or the other. Detectives who thought with there head, and not other body parts, usually carried a 2 inch, 38 spl, which they were expected to qualify with, in the 80's. From the 90's onward, generally speaking, most all went to autos, Glock, Sigs, Berettas. And if the story is fictional, you can give them anything you wish and it wouldn't be too far from the truth.