I'm just curious to see how much the M&Ps are gaining in popularity amongst the LE market.

Incredibly fast growing.

You can link to the S&W site and check out the press releases from the last couple of years about the M&P lines being adopted.

Naturally, they seem to list only the larger contracts, but last time I heard they were in use (meaning either selected or approved) in more than 500 agencies and in something like 20 countries.

Not bad considering the pistols were only released in Jan 2006.

13009 - Smith&Wesson: Press Releases

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

It helps garner more market share when S&W GIVES AWAY FREE M&P's AND HOLSTERS!!!

In my state S&W GAVE the Guilford County Sheriff's department AND the State Highway Patrol free M&P pistols and holsters in exchange for advertising consideration and their respective current issued handguns.

If you can't win a T&E......appeal to the bean counters! Regards 18DAI.

My agency switched from Glock to M&P this year. We are a small department (14 officers) in a Northern Kentucky suburb of Cincinnati. Another small agency in our county has made the switch. Cincinnati PD and several smaller agencies near them issue the M&P

Yep, it surely does help upon occasion. Probably why at least a couple of other major handgun makers have engaged in similar practices.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

NHSP went to M&P 45s. In MA, Brookline PD went to M&P40s, Sharon PD has M&P40s, Dedham PD went with M&P45s and Worchester PD went with M&P45s as well. With free holsters, it's a no brainer for any city or town. Time will tell if they are as maintainance and trouble free as other designs. I wonder if they are hurting Sig more than Glock?

Makes sense since S&W is located in Mass. Easy marketing, sales, and service in the New England area. NC Prob/Parole carry M&P's in .40 I have as well heard that the "Staties" in NC get to choose whether they carry Sigs or M&P's in .357sig

Colorado State Patrol switched from a 3rd-gen .40 to the M&P-40.

Milwaukee, WI P.D. appears to authorize, if not issue, the M&P, probably in .40. I recently had occasion to work with a couple of officers on an atm burglary and both were armed with M&Ps. Other officers who responded still had Glocks, but the M&P is at least in the mix.

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Gary

IIRC, Columbus PD was the first to issue the M&P40, followed by Cincinnati. The Ohio State Highway Patrol still use the SigSauer P226.

Washing State Patrol just ordered 1400 M&P 40's.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I work for a small agency north of Milwaukee. We placed our order for M&Ps last week. Were advised by S&W it takes 30-45 working days to fill the order.

Milwaukee PD has switched to the M&P. Its just taking them time to get all the guns in, issued and qualified.

Was also told by the S&W sales rep Detroit PD has has placed a large order as well as Wisconsin DCI.

Detroit MI PD is in the process of change over from Glock 22 to M&P 40's or 45's, forget which they went with. I have seen a few in holsters already on the street. Also saw it was a screen saver on one of their jail computer screens.

Heard Atlanta PD has gone to M&Ps.

(The U.S. Glock factory/assembly/ distribution center is just outside Atlanta in Smyrna. Wonder if a promotion/sales rep there is red-faced.)

i was just going to say that!

Washington State Patrol Converts to Smith & Wesson M&P Pistols | Reuters

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NRA Certified Instructor

Atlanta PD (APD) has been carrying S&Ws for years and years. They had been carrying basic 3rd Gen for a long time, then did a big switch out to TSWs (I was told it was one of the last big orders for 3rd Gens that S&W got - it came in just as S&W was about to release the M&P), then it seemed in the matter of just a few years (well within the life cycle of the TSWs) they decided to go with the M&P.

I've been the beneficiary of all of this confusion; I've got a very nice APD 4003TSW trade-in and a virtually unused 6906 that was an APD patrol officer's off duty gun (he wanted to sell it to buy a compact M&P for commonality).

I've often wondered about the Glock thing myself. If I was Glock I would have just about given the pistols to APD just for the publicity.

I see Glocks coming out of a lot of police holsters here in the Atlanta area. However, H&Ks and SIGs seem to be the favored replacements. I talked to one member of a local sheriff dept SWAT team about a year ago. He was crowing about how the team just got permission to switch over to H&Ks. I asked him why H&K? His response was basically, "Cuz the regular patrol slugs carry Glocks." Seems a lot of the purchasing decisions are driven, in part, by the perception that Glocks are just 'old skool, not tacticool'.

Especially since the Glock plant is in Smyrna, just outside Atlanta.

My town replaced its 4006's with .40 M&P's this summer, as did a major city in my state.