WHY DON'T LEO'S CARRY A 1911??

[xx AG xx]

While I am NOT an actual LEO, I do wear a duty belt with all the gear that an officer carries, I have carried both a glock and 1911 for work and there is not much of a difference to me as far as the weight goes. I carry my Para for duty now and have no problems with the weight.

BTW, Whitehall PD in Lehigh County carry 1911's and most of them are Colt's.
Allentown PD carry Sig's, either 229 or 226, I forget which one.
South Whitehall PD carries Glocks.

AG

[Warpt762x39]

I see most LEO carrying glocks. I would guess its because they are cheap, durable, and easy.

I can turn that into a really bad joke but I'll behave myself for now

[Frenchy]

Maybe because Glock hit them with such a hype, and the fact they can carry more then 7 rnds If I remember well, Some one told me once Glock offered their dept 50 Glocks for the price of 30 and with duty holsters and 3 mags each...

Might have some thing to do with economics.

[bigbear]

For the most part, most officers don't carry 1911's for the following reasons:

Cost: For the price of a good-quality 1911 handgun, most departments can buy two Glock/M&P/XD style pistols. If an officer can buy his own, then it's:

PC'ness: I carry a 1911 on duty and off, and on-duty, even at a firearms instructor course, I've heard, "Excuse me, did you know that your gun's cocked?" If people are paying attention to your firearm, and they see this, sometimes they comment. If this is not an issue, then it can be:

Training: a 1911 style pistol requires more training for the clueless (not all cops are "gunny") then the Glock/M&P/XD (and others) series of pistol. Training on the care and feeding, including magazine maintenance, safeties, etc, which some cops don't want to do. They want it to be simple. Then there's:

Coolness: Who wants to carry a gun that's almost 100 years old that only holds 8 or 9 rounds? My (fill in the blank) holds 15 bullets, is lighter, blah, blah, blah, then that old gun.

A properly tuned and accessorized 1911 (Weapon, good magazines, holsters, lights, ammo, armorers, parts, etc) will cost much more then a more modern weapon system, and takes more training to master.

If I were in charge, however, we would all carry 1911's.

[bigbear]

I see most LEO carrying glocks. I would guess its because they are cheap, durable, and easy.

Kinda like my ex-wife...

Thank you, I'll be here all week.

[RoyJackson]

NYC, for years, only allowed the beat cops to carry DAO revolvers. They did not want the cops to have use of a relatively light SA trigger pull.
The "NY trigger" available for Glocks increases the trigger pull over the stock factory pull (which is quite a bit stiffer then a stock Colt 1911 pull).

Considering the rash of LEO involved negligent discharges (either shooting themselves, their partners or an already apprehended suspect) we've been reading about in the news and gun forums, I can't disagree with NYC's decision.
1911's are cool guns but that SA pull is too light for most cops I've met over the years.

Glocks are pretty simple guns for maintenance as well, having about ½ the number of parts that a 1911 has. Also, takedown (for cleaning) of a 1911 is more work then it is for a Glock.

Your tax dollars at work...which would you prefer your local cops to carry?

[1861]

Prior to the Glock rage a lot of us carried 1911's cocked & locked.

[PennsyPlinker]

I haven't read all the replies, and I am not a cop. I have nothing to do with procuring police equipment, training, or anything like that. I am not going to speculate. But I will say this. In the past year I have seen several uniformed and non uniformed LEO's together carrying 1911s cocked and locked. I cannot remember if I was in southern PA or northern VA at the time, but I am pretty sure it was VA. I was sitting in a restaurant (where else!?!) eating lunch while on the road and a bunch of them came in together to eat as well. So whatever the answers are in the rest of the thread, there are at least a few cops carrying 1911s out there.

[Xringshooter]

I think it had to do a lot with the transition from a revolver to a pistol. A revolver has no safeties to worry about in the heat of the moment, you draw and pull the trigger. A DAO pistol like the Glock is the same way. As some said before, many police only carry a firearm because they have to, they don't get into guns/practice/shooting/competition like many of us. Also, departments want it to be as simple as possible for the training, a 45 takes a lot more training and practice (that's extra dollars for a dept. to spend) to become proficient as compared to a revolver or a DAO pistol. Also, most departments want to standardize the firearms that they carry, one, for economic reasons (large buys of one brand/type is cheaper, and another, in case something bad happens, one officer can pick up another officers weapon and not have to think about what he must do to be able to shoot it.

[Paradigm]

Our department issues each officer a 40-cal Glock as the primary. The secondary is up to the officer.

As said before, they are cheap, durable, and easy. You unholster, point, and shoot. If you drop it, you don't cry for a week about the scratches on it. It holds a lot of ammo. Cleaning it is boneheadedly simple.

Another thing is weight. Our officers carry 20+ pounds of stuff on them. They don't want to add a large-frame, all-metal handgun and two all-metal magazines.