Police Mag January 01, 2004 | by Roy Huntington
Mech-Tech’s Carbine Conversion Units (CCU) are short, handy, and reliable, not to mention innovative.
http://mechtechsys.com/The move toward rifles and pistol-caliber carbines for patrol continues unabated, and for all the right reasons. In the case of pistol-caliber carbines, even if they don't deliver the kind of performance a rifle caliber can, they will at least enable officers to engage threats with accurate, aimed fire at greater range than a pistol.
Current experience in agencies that issue or authorize pistol-caliber carbines has shown that officers will deploy them with more frequency than shotguns and have used them even at very short ranges (those 3- to 15-yard encounters so common in law enforcement). What has been found is that more shots are hitting the targets, less are going astray (I always count those as "million-dollar rounds"), and the accuracy of the hits is almost invariably enhanced.
So let's do the math here. Rather than being squad car loungers (like so many shotguns can be), pistol-caliber carbines are being consistently deployed if a threat may be present. When used, the hit ratio is higher and the accuracy of those hits is significantly better. Cost is often minimal, most are ruggedly constructed, and vehicle racks are easily available. Sounds like a win-win situation and you only have to ask the agencies that currently deploy them how well they are working.
My own alma mater, the San Diego Police Department, authorizes the Ruger PC9. My wife, Suzi, is still a cop on the San Diego force, and when I drop her off at the station during our carpool to our respective jobs, I have to admit it's good to see those young men and women with those slung carbines as they load their vehicles prior to heading out for their shift. Maybe it's the father in me, but it gives me peace of mind knowing they have that option available.
According to officers I've interviewed on many agencies, it's not uncommon to see two or three carbines deployed during any high-risk vehicle stop or other situation where the need might arise. It's a far cry from a choice of OO-Buck or your handgun, and I'll bet those officers at the infamous North Hollywood bank robbery would have given up a month's pay for the sound of a dozen carbines returning fire. While perhaps not always as good as a "real" rifle, the concept of the pistol caliber carbine is still, nonetheless, a viable alternative if it's the only long-range option available.
More:
http://www.policemag.com/channel/weapons/articles/2004/01/arsenal.aspx
