This. For one thing, weapon retention begins by assuring ones handgun remains in the holster until one chooses to draw it. If an officers weapon is out of the holster and he's fighting for it he's already all but lost. I don't get the idea of dropping the mag. In a fight if I'm able to do that why wouldn't I just pull the trigger and shoot the BG?
Yes. But they consult with instructors and other experts.
And then ignore them!
This is how we got the ridiculous new standard for LEO qualification in Wisconsin.
Back in October 4 instructors told me they were tapped by DOJ T&S to chime in on a new, statewide standard. They said most opposed being so concerned about the 75 feet qualifications as most police shootings happen at 5 yards or less. But a bunch of chiefs wanted it so that's why it's there.
Years ago there was a trooper on dash cam who was overcome by several thugs on a vehicle stop. He was dragged into the woods and killed with his own revolver. While still on cam the officer had his hand on his gun but they had overpowered him. Had he been able to disable his gun he might have only suffered a beating, as one Florida Keys trooper who survived because the attackers could not get her weapon.
I am not sure why the mag disconnect was required by the military, but it was a requirement for Spanish, and South American military contracts. The Smith 39 was also designed for the military, and had a mag safety to meet the standards.
In the age before the miracle holster with a dozen retention devices officers were killed often with their own weapons. ISP adopted the 39 before most departments went to semi auto handguns. They indeed did train that dropping the magazine may save their life during an attempt to take an officers gun.
I worked on a university campus, and a hospital, most of the time an officer is surrounded by people, and is an idiot if they think that the answer to every problem is to shoot. I had one situation were I was justified to shoot on the fifth floor of Memorial hospital, and did not. It would have been reckless to shoot with at least a half a dozen people behind the suspect. Instead he got his head slammed into the wall until I could disarm him. I was not in the mental ward yet, just outside the elevators, it was hospital policy to either enter the ward without a firearm, or disable the firearm by unloading. Or removing the magazine of my 39.
When breaking up bar fights my gun was unloaded, my concealed bug was not. Getting overpowered in a bar fight is just to easy to happen, as it did with a fellow off duty officer. Luckily he ignored the rules and was unarmed, as the attackers tried to search him for his gun, he only suffered a beating which he fully recovered from.
Depending on the environment an officer works in a mag safety is a very useful tool to stay alive. While officers have been shot with their own guns, I have never heard of an officer needing his gun to fire without a magazine. Weighing what has happened, and what has not, I think the answer is above the ego of some. Common sense over bravado is a wise policy.
