Old cops know "stuff"

Old cops know "stuff" - by Roy Huntington

Weapons and Tools

Carry a backup gun where you can get to it. If your agency doesn’t allow backup guns, make a stink and get your union involved. Then make a bigger stink. Change agencies if they still say no. I’ve personally known about eight officers who have used backup guns to save their own lives or the lives of other officers. You probably know some, too. We carry fire extinguishers, why not backup guns?
Carry a folding knife where you can get to it. Carry a sturdy pair of pliers and both kinds of screwdrivers in your kit bag. Carry a small crowbar, too. Carry some leather work gloves and use them.

Which brings me to a very important piece of advice: protect your hands. They will save your life, so guard them zealously. Don’t risk them by reaching into places and doing things you should be using tools for.

Don’t put your hand into a suspect’s pockets. You’ll get stuck by needles. Buy a small metal detector and use it. Buy puncture-resistant gloves and use them. If you have to, cut the suspect’s pocket open first. So you may have to buy another pair of pants for some creep. So what.
Don’t get in the habit of putting your own hands in your pockets. It looks slovenly and, besides, you may need those hands to save your life, so you want them available. Fast.

Carry at least one box of full-metal-case ammo for your duty gun and keep it handy in your gear bag. It usually out-penetrates hollow-point ammo, and it might be of help in some situations.

If you can, also carry a few spare, loaded mags in your gear bag, even cheap ten-round mags. When you need them, you’ll need them immediately, with no time to load them. Remember the North Hollywood bank robbery shootout?

Think hard on this one: If your department does not allow you to carry a rifle, bring your own slugs for the shotgun. Buy premium, sabot’d slugs, high velocity, solid copper. They can poke holes through things like body armor.

Better yet, carry your own rifle, regardless. Even pistol caliber is better than nothing, although .223 or .308 or even a .30-30 Winchester is best.

I used to carry a cut-down Mini-14 in my “trunk bag” in the early ‘80s. No one ever knew I had it until I pulled it out on a felony stop on suspects who had been shooting. I got yelled at later, but the cops at the scene almost “high-fived” me when they saw it come out. This is, of course, a personal decision and you know your own department’s frame of mind on the matter.

If any of this violates your particular department’s policy, you’ll have to make your own decisions on the matter.