Checkman: my dad is one of those cops that you described so well. He was sworn in in 1950 and retired in 1980. He was (and still is even though he's mellowed at age 82) a no-nonsense guy. He considered his night stick, not his Colt 38 special, his first line of defense. The night stick got used all the time. As he taught me many years ago, "If you pull your gun out of the holster use it. But you'd better make sure you're right." Still good advice. He told me not too long ago (I thought I had heard all the stories) about his encounter with two guys having a knife fight. When my dad arrived on the scene one guy ran but the other stuck around (no pun intended). This guy refused to drop his knife when "asked". One broken arm later from the night stick, the knife was on the ground and this guy was on his way to the hospital. In the '70s dad was on the job but wearing jacket and tie and carrying his Chief Special Airweight 38. Someone had given him a box of Super Vel ammo which he promptly loaded into that J frame. He had that ammo for many years, even up to retirement. Thank God he never dropped the hammer on any of those rounds! The whole thing would probably have come apart. About a year ago he was rummaging around in his gun box and handed me that box of Super Vels. I don't intend on shooting them. Thanks for the memories.