In 2022 my department went to G17.5's with Trijicon RMR's. After much teeth gnashing by the higher ups, it was approved and implemented.
To this date, our standard issued long gun is a Remington 870 SBS or 16 inch gun. Patrol rifles are optional post certification. We issue XM15 patrol rifles to our Road Patrol Deputies that opt into the program. We may purchase an optic from the approved list of optics and have it mounted by an Armorer. We are not allowed to modify the weapon. Most Deputies will use a drop in Magpul handguard to allow the mounting of a white light. For years, I utilized a Mossie tactics FSB mount because I couldn't get the weapon into our weapon racks with anything mounted on the handguard. The racks have not been changed so most Deputies store their rifles in their trunk weapon lockers.
At our monthly training event, the training division will be "evaluating a 9mm pistol caliber carbine as an optional long gun".
I have very mixed feelings on this and I feel like its a step backwards. 9mm PCC's off of the shelf are not easier to shoot than a rifle. They offer sub optimal ballistic performance to a rifle. The entire point of a rifle is to bring a superior weapon, ie a more potent cartridge to a situation that may need overmatch capability if you want to use that term. By going to a PCC we are limiting our lethality at distance. I am aware that the vast majority of LEO and Civilian based shootings do not occur at distance but in my mind, limiting capability is not the way forward. I'm not sure what advantage the department is thinking a PCC grants its users?
As an aside, like most departments, we ditched select fire Mp5's and even some .40 caliber colt pattern PCC's for rifles. We did this for a reason. It doesn't really make all that much sense to reverse this decision in 2023. Personally, I think the money would be better spent on SBR's and Suppressors for hearing preservation of the Sworn employees and the public.
I'd like some feedback on this as I plan on offering a written writeup in this regard but i'd really like some more education on this. Also, keep in mind that this pcc, at least how it was present to me is currently being evaluated for Road Patrol use, not specialty unit use where the niche implementation of an extremely short barreled weapon makes sense, ie in and around vehicles. I'm not even sure what platform we are looking at so I couldn't tell you if this was an SBR or a 16 inch gun. I will have more information on the 18th of this month. I will share as much as i'm allowed to better facilitate good discussion.
Thoughts?