LEO Off-Duty and Retired Carry %

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SuperMan

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Have asked these questions to many LEOs over the years so I thought I would throw it out here....

For present or past LEOs:

Do you carry:
All the time
Some of the time
Rarely if ever


Your Department:
What percentage of the officers carried OD:
All the time
Some of the time
Rarely if ever


Retired officers you know:
What percentage carry:
All the time
Some of the time
Rarely if ever



For non-LEOs:

The people you know in LE active or retired, do they carry:
All the time
Some of the time
Rarely if ever



Answers for me:
Have carried every day I legally could since 1970 when I got my first CC license. That was in Connecticut when most of the rest of the country never heard of CC.... Have my LEOA certification and still carry everywhere I go.

Was with three departments in my career:
Larger city, 2500 officers, mandatory carry while OD if in the city
Small City, 40 officers, myself and one other officer carried OD
State Agency, 70 officers, myself, the other officer from the previous department who also changed jobs and the chief firearms instructor

Retired officers I know who carry:
The guy I worked with retired and I know he has a gun on or about him always. Another guy I worked with in the large city department who was my shooting partner I know always carries....but the rest of the retirees I know rarely if ever carry.


Any time a I meet a new person who I find out is an officer I ask these same questions....and at least here in New England it seems to be between 5-10%. I've asked at least three different LEO firearms instructors over the last couple of years and the absolute most and very "optimistic" estimate for their department was 50%...and I think this was "some of the time" vs. "all of the time".


Anyway your answers would be appreciated...

Bob
 
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Working I carried 100% of the time. So did all the guys in the squad.

Now, retired from Investigations, but working part time at the LGS and as a Magistrate at night (where I have "bodyguards" ;) ) I carry 100% of the time.

You never know who or what you will run in to. So, always be prepared. For anything. Regards 18DAI
 
SuperMan said:
For non-LEOs:

The people you know in LE active or retired, do they carry:
All the time
Some of the time
Rarely if ever
Click to expand...

I've posted this a couple times before in different threads, so apologies for the repeat. For quite a few years I was in a social group that was mostly non-LEO's, but also had quite a few active LEO's. Mostly from a 900 officer city department.

Other than pheasant and deer hunting they weren't any more gun guys than they were baton guys or handcuff guys. Pretty sure the ones I knew well weren't carrying off duty. They were deep into kids sports, adult fast pitch softball, and riding motorcycles. Everyday guys with a job that required them to carry a weapon at work. Just another work tool. Off duty they were no more likely carrying than a lumberjack would be toting his chainsaws.
 
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Currently retired from LE. Carry virtually 100% of time I'm out of the house. Often in the house if I'm in and out.

Formerly, on the job, 100%. Most other agents the same, both on and off duty.

Can't speak for too many other retired LEO's, I know my former partner carries routinely.
 
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My brother was an LEO for a large (1500 sworn personnel), progressive department in the South for 30 years. Off duty he always carried when out and about with his family. When alone, frequently but not so much. This may have been because he was very good at unarmed combat, and in fact was an instuctor at the academy in that subject.

For myself (retired military, almost half of my career in specops and now a health care professional) I have carried daily since 9/11, even at work. To do less is dereliction of duty IMO, because you just never know.
 
SuperMan said:
Thank you for all the answers...

Muss...I think you hit it on the nose... The local officers are nothing more than a reflection of the general populous because they come from the general populous....
Click to expand...

Not trying to drive this in a political direction, but as a non-LEO, one thing I've noticed is the impact the mayor has on the police department. At least here, when we've had Democrat mayors, they've tended to bring in a police chief from outside the department that used to be a cop, but now has some sort of academic background in policing. When we've had Republican mayors, they've tended to pick police chiefs that are current cops in the dept and came up through the ranks in the department.

Not sure if that's common or not, but from the outside (at least to me) it seems to make a difference in how the department runs.
 
All the time then, most of the time now.

Carried off duty the vast majority (99.9%) of the time when a LEO. Had to carry when in primary jurisdiction.

Did not carry for a month or so after retirement until being LEOSA qualified. In retirement I carry just about every single day when I leave the house. Let's say 98% carry.

I don't carry sometimes when traveling...but those times are rare even though I travel regularly. e.g. Will be in Las Vegas for five days next week. Never carry there but I did when working.

Have carried in all 50 states.

Be safe.
 
As a none LEO but a long time CCWP holder let me say. I still know a bunch of active LEOs and most of them carry very regularly off duty!

I have breakfast one morning a week with a bunch of older retired guys, three of the regulars are retired LEOs. (we used to have 5 retired LEOs at the table but 2 have passed on) Two of our present officers served out of state but now live here and the other retired fron NYCPD.

All carry very constantly that I know about. We do talk guns on occasion but rarely mention our carry guns or carrying unless talking about a new holster or weapon carried.
 
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I worked for a department in Colorado where off-duty carry was encouraged, so I'd say most of them did/still do. Maybe 90+%.
Among retirees, it seems to be generational. The older ones, aged 70+, maybe half still go down to the range annually to qualify back there, but among the ones I know who've also moved to Phoenix, I don't think any of them do, which is odd considering AZ is a constitutional carry state. As for the ones under 70 back in CO, most still do. I'm one of only two that I know of down here under 70, and we both do.
 
Started my LEO career in 1968 when we were required to carry off duty, retired 30 years later and still carry every day. Most of my retired buddies carry too but not sure what others do. My agency dropped the requirement to always be armed in the early '90s.
 
PawDawg said:
I'm a retired LEO (ten years now), and carry 100% of the time. Before retiring, I also carried 100% off duty.

I've always lived by the motto, "You can't choose when you may be a crime victim, but you can choose to always be prepared."
Click to expand...

...and what about those you worked with or other retirees you know...

Bob
 
I retired after 30 yrs. with a large city PD. and always carried off duty, it was required in the city. When I retired I do not carry but keep a weapon in my truck. As I get older I have mellowed a lot and find there are less reasons to shoot someone.
 
I would almost always carry whenever I went into the city (SF), and would pack a gun when I took a road trip. But carrying off-duty routinely, was not part of my routine. I did carry a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 in my glove box off and on. Most the guys I hung out with off duty, did not routinely carry. I would guess that about 15-20% of the officers in my first department carried off duty, and about 80-85% carried at my 2nd department. My 2nd agency was in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County Metroplex.
 
Retired almost three years ago after 25 years as a Feebie and 8 years as an Air Force cop.

I always carried off duty, though it wasn't required. Had to carry one of my approved work guns. I'd say less than half of my fellow feebs carried off duty, mostly because they didn't want to carry their issued big gun and were too cheap or lazy to buy a smaller gun, get it approved, and qualify with it.

I knew a lot of sad old agents who would come by the office after they retired and it was usually pretty awkward and didn't last long. I decided to be gone and not come back once I was shown the door. I worked until the last day I could, five years after being eligible, but once it was over it was time to move on. Because of that I can't say how many of my fellow Bureau retirees carry, but I suspect it ain't many. Haven't seen one at my LEOSA quals yet.

Now I almost always carry something. I bought a lot of guns on the premise of "I can carry this when I retire", so I do. But if I forget I don't turn around and go back. There's one in the truck somewhere.
 
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I have no idea how many of my retired co-workers carry now or earlier while OD. OD carry was, at least at one time technically required, but I never heard of it actually being mentioned. Not all did. It's my opinion that most of those for which LE work was just another job and usually did the minimum when on the job, well those probably didn't carry OD and likely don't now. When around fellow retires, with a few exceptions, the topic doesn't come up so I wouldn't know. At the fairly well attended retiree luncheons I rarely go to, I don't think the attendees would appreciate being polled on the matter. I'm guessing maybe 40% carry but that is just a wild guess. I do carry pretty near all of the time.
 
I always carried off duty. I am retired now and always carry wherever and whenever I am legally allowed.
Years ago I was a firearms instructor for our large department. I qualified officers on their departmentally authorized, personally owned weapons. At the time, there were only approximately 170 out of 1900 officers that requested permission to carry personally owned off duty weapons. That doesn't mean that many people carried off duty. Many carried unauthorized weapons and some only carried issued weapons. A few years later a range officer conducted an informal poll of officers during their annual requalification. He asked how many officers routinely carried while off duty and I believe it was something like 30% give or take. Granted, it was informal.
When I qualify for LEOSA annually through my department in May there are usually 15 to 20 guys there. That's not a lot of people considering the qualifications are not held every month.
 
Ziggy2525 said:
Not trying to drive this in a political direction, but as a non-LEO, one thing I've noticed is the impact the mayor has on the police department. At least here, when we've had Democrat mayors, they've tended to bring in a police chief from outside the department that used to be a cop, but now has some sort of academic background in policing. When we've had Republican mayors, they've tended to pick police chiefs that are current cops in the dept and came up through the ranks in the department.
Click to expand...

Interesting observation. All else (suitability of "on hand" candidates
vs "out of towners", etc) aside, appointing from
the department would likely give a candidate with some
degree of loyalty to his/her department.

Picking someone from out of town, would likely result in
a candidate with less loyalty to the department, and more
loyalty to the mayor.

Regarding carry; retired, carry when out of house, pretty
much everywhere (except VA med facilities--boy are they
touchy!). Changed coasts awhile back, and haven't discussed
carry with (now) retired colleagues, but would guess the
more active hard chargers will be carrying, and the "ROAD"
officers, probably not.

I suspect the majority of non-carrying retired LEOs won't
be active in a gun forum.
 
I carried off-duty 100% of the time while I was on the job.

Now retired I still carry 100% of the time.

I've no idea what the off-duty carry percentage was of the officers I worked with. Of the few retirees that I associate with about half will have a gun in their vehicle. So far as I know I'm the only one who carries on the body.
 
When I was with my small city department a new chief came in... He eliminated our privately owned backup guns and said if we were carrying a badge OD then the only gun we could carry was the city issue which we qualified with.

I had only carried my 1911 Commander OD and had done so for 11 years at that point and was not going to carry a 5906 OD IWB... The solution was simple. I applied for a NH CC License, left my badge, ID and gun in my locker and only carried my own gun OD...
 
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I worked for a Department with 225 (+/-) officers. While I was working I carried a Glock 22 on duty and a Glock 23 (with reload) when I was off duty. My department didn't require its officers to carry off duty and only a small portion of them did. Those that chose to carry off-duty were usually "gun people" and shot on a regular basis.

Now that I'm retired, I still carry daily, but I opted to carry a smaller firearm (S&W 640 with one reload). Being five years into retirement I'm finding it easier to remember that I am no longer and LEO... and concentrate more on becoming a good witness (and hope that I never find the need for greater firepower).

In regard to officers that I know who carry in retirement... I would have to say the percentages are small, with the most of the "gun people" being the ones who still carry in retirement.
 
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