I think it was the Newhall incident that led to semi-auto. Kind of interesting, cause if the police involved in the incident had say shotguns in the car, just as a protocol thing, they had an idea of what they were responding to, so - really if you are after mad men, do you want a Glock, or a Mini-14 or a Shotgun, or something more serious. I don't really care what they carry, it just seems when decisions are made on stuff like this, everyone forgets all the other variables, and - everyone just gets bigger handguns that have bigger mags.
I remember the Newhall shooting incident. I was just about to released from active duty and was stationed at MCB Camp Pendleton, CA (just down the road a bit).
The incident has been analyzed many times, but the bare facts are two villains were involved along with four Highway Patrol officers - in two waves of two. The four officers were killed on location, the two villains fled the scene and were shortly thereafter neutralized, one by capture and one villain killing himself when trapped.
It is interesting to me to note the two villains were not injured in the encounter. (Nothing reported, anyway.) All four officers were armed with double action revolvers. All four officers fired all six rounds - initial loading - without effect. At least two and I recall all four officers were attempting to reload their revolvers when killed.
The villains were armed with several firearms. A Smith & Wesson model 39 and a Ruger .44 Magnum semi-automatic rifle were the only two semi-automatic weapons in hand. They also had several revolvers and an M1903 rifle.
Must was made of the officers being killed while reloading. Nothing was ever said about NONE OF THEM making any of their first six - each - shots count. I'm not attempting to disgrace any of them; they were at place of duty and attempting to carry out said duty. Nothing of cowardice or slovenly action applies. However, a different weapon would not have made any real difference.
The Miami-Dade shooting gave me a chilling deja-vu feeling. Same song, second verse.
I will add it seems the villains were ready to kill anyone in their way. The officers were ready to arrest someone. The difference in mind set is horrifying. Higher capacity arms do not change that aspect.
film495 said:
If we changed policy every time a police officer's life ended during his shift, we'd be busy. Used to be a big deal, I guess it is, but - it seems like there is a tragedy every few days of one kind or another, going on years now. I don't think we'd much blink an eye at a Newhall or Miami Dade incident today, the news cycle would be done with it in a day.
You're likely right. The deaths of police (or other law enforcement) officers does not play to the 'woke' herd.