Originally Posted by
Gadfly
I bash on the Feds (esp FBI), but I am a Fed.
State and locals do a lot more T stops than we ever will. But we get tons more training time and ammo than most local PDs ever will. We shoot quarterly (about 1k rounds per person per year) and get a full 8 hour training day per quarter, mandatory. Houston PD and Harris County SO in my area shoot 50 rounds per year, and up until a few years back, did not even draw during their course of fire (because the mandatory level three holsters were, you know, hard...). So, what is more relevant, the amount of T stops done per year, or the amount of training rounds fired per year? I would argue its still the individual and their mindset that matters most, equipment second.
In the end, the badge/agency does not make the person or vice versa. We have some switched on hard charges in our ranks, and some total dip shits. I am sure it is that way in every agency. Some of my guys would probably destroy any armed opponent, others I would not trust to run the coffee maker...
Side note, I read the FBI test on wound ballistics as a 16 year old, and by 18 wanted to bathe in the 10mm kool aid. By the time I decided to be a cop, I considered not even applying at any department that issued 9mm! Because, I read guns and ammo, so I knew more than them (rolls eyes).
Now with lots of time in the firearms training program, and lots of time seeing how HQ and PR folks handle things, I see behind the curtain. I see the Miami shootout as partially ammo failure, and the resulting call for a new pistol as a deflection. If the FBI admits their men were out fought, then they have to accept that their training and decisions were a contributing factor in the defeat. Soooo, its the Ammo's fault per FBI management! And if we (FBI) admit there was better ammo out there, and we were not using it, then we are still at fault. Soooooo, the best ammo was not available yet, we need the newest super duper 10mm ammo, and a whole new gun to launch it from! Not our fault, it was totally the ammo's fault! Marketing 101...we must maintain the aura of invincibility surrounding the FBI.