For their size, the .25's were preferred over .22's by many because the jacketed FMJ bullet was not nearly as prone to cause malfunctions as the outside lubed .22 bullet was.

Any gun is better than no gun, but with all the .380's around now that are comparable in size I can't see much need for them. I would imagine that there are very few .25's carried as backups for LEO's these days, but I would also expect that quite a few civilians have one squirreled away where it is handy.