I went to back to back funerals for two cops killed with a single round of .25 ACP each. One was a guy I knew a little bit - my partner's former partner. The other was a young guy I didn't know at all, but I wound up doing the paperwork for his Public Safety Officers Benefits (PSOB). They were killed 24 hours apart. I got my fill of kids crying for Daddy that day.
One was hit once above his vest on a drug raid. He died at the hospital, and his murderer died in a hail of return gunfire.
The other was shot while answering a prowler call. He didn't have a vest. The department didn't provide them, and he was saving some of his meager salary each week to buy his own, but he had five kids to take care of. The guy who killed him was some kind of nutcase paranoid schizo.
Anything that's going to push a piece of metal into your vital organs can kill you quite handily. There are better things to carry, but a .25 will get the job done.
Detective Joseph C. Thomas, New Orleans Police Department
Police Officer Chris D. McCormick Sr., New Orleans Police Department.