I'd take that bet. I see comments such as this on the internet often.
What comments such as this don't recognize is that training occurs on the job, every shift, every day -- training as a law enforcement officer for using a firearm requires training in how to learn to avoid having to use a firearm, to be able to communicate with everyone you encounter, to be able to deescalate potentially volatile situations using verbal skills, to be able to use physical force without having to go up to lethal force.
Law enforcement "training" never stops. It's not solely the two weeks of initial firearms training one gets in a twenty-week academy, or the annual in-service review of use of deadly force and weapons re-qualifying. Cops learn more by being out on the street every day dealing with crap that most citizens not only will never have to deal with, but can't possibly even imagine.
So we've got a few members here who've gone through every Gunsite pistol course with its "world-renowned" instructor cadre or laughed at Mas' humor during the old LFI days or in MAG-40; I know at least a couple who've gone through Givens' great instructor courses. But carrying a handgun every day and going through some commercial training courses (even with some of the truly great instructors we've got out there now), putting a few hundred rounds downrange every month at your gun club or indoor range, even shooting IDPA every month -- does not teach you the other skills you need to be successful as a law enforcement officer.
I started in '79 with a S&W Model 19 revolver, wearing heavy brown pants with a black stripe down the leg, black leather oxford shoes with a thick rubber sole, tan shirt with black epaulets and pocket flaps, and a hat that looked like this:
View attachment 1092381
The pants and shirts didn't "breath," got sweat-soaked quickly in the summer, didn't stretch, the fabric quickly wore out and got shiny from having to be starched and pressed weekly, couldn't use the pockets. No one like these heavy stupid hats.
So by the time I retired from my last job, I was wearing breathable BDU-style pants, tons of practical pockets, with stretch waistband, stretch fabric and could put foam kneepads in if needed, comfortable Under-Armor 8" boots that were lightweight, breathable and I could run in, a lightweight cotton blend shirt to wear under body armor and a ball cap was optional. Yes, the duty belt sucked -- TASER, ASP baton, Mk4 OC pouch, flashlight pouch, glove pouch, key clip, mag pouch, cuff pouch, heavy Motorola radio, rigid holster (compared to a Sam Browne rig back in the day with a double speedloader holder, cuff pouch, MAGLITE ring, straight baton ring and a holster).
You want a "Return to Mayberry?" Don't want your street cops to be comfortable? Or protected with body armor? Or carrying "intimidating-looking" pistols: Sheesh.
Give some credit to the American people. Surely a few of 'em out there watch/read the news and know what their cops are facing.
Now, does a rural sheriff's office
need an MRAP? That's a whole 'nother thread.