Worst Issued Equipment

jimmyj

jimmyj

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Accepting a Patrol Deputy position with a small rural county sheriffs department, after being sworn in I was issued weapons from the armory.
1. S&W Model 19 4" blued
2. Colt Model 1911A1 .45acp
3. Marlin Model 336 .30/30
4. Remington Model 870 12ga w/ 18" barrel.

After drawing service ammo I went to the range to test fire the weapons.
1. S&W M19 - rear sight elevation screw disappeared never to be located.
2. Colt M1911A1 - jammed and ejector broke
3. Marlin M336 - rear sight fell off
4. Rem. M870 - stock split at the hand grip.

Returning the issued weapons to the armory I obtained permission to use my personel weapons.

On the way home in my patrol car the radiator hose blew.

Can you say "BAD JO JO?
 
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I had a Chevy Caprice that burned a lot of oil..had like 2 bazillion miles on it..spent lots of time working on it..didn't need to change oil..it had fresh oil all the time! Sometimes wouldn't shift into reverse..that caused all sorts of problems..had to really watch where you parked..and for dead end streets.

The sear broke on my fairly new Browning Hi-Power..and the department supplied me a loaner Colt Official Police and holster..it was out of whack and loose-loose...

I had a department shotgun..a Savage pump..and it pumped like ****..I took it apart one evening and got about a pound of un-burned powder and dirt out of the internals..worked much better then.
 
M16 with a bent front sight post
The saw
Night sights that did not work, have mounts, both
2nd LTs
Army toilet paper
 
I got on the NYC PD in '83. We had to buy all our guns, uniforms and equipment. We had Grand Fury's with rot holes the size of manhole covers in the driver and passenger floor boards. I would be scared to death responding to a heavy job on bumpy potholed NYC streets, worrying that a bump would cause my leg to go through the rot hole and lose a leg.

The seats would break and we would have to put plastic milk crates between the front and rear seat to keep it in position.

When I left in '03, we were lucky if we had an MDT (like LAPD used in the 80's) in the patrol car (RMP Radio Motor Patrol). We didn't have tazers or stun guns in patrol vehicles, no patrol rifles and no shotguns. The job did not spend much on equipment, but we do have many Precincts, so it was cost prohibitive.
 
Several years ago I worked for a security company as an armed guard. The guards at the post I was assigned to were all issued 4" S&W Model 686s.

That might sound good, but there were some issues. First, they had to remain on site, so we weren't allowed to do any kind of practice with them. No one even knew if the guns worked, let alone knew how they shot. They had target grips, which do not fit my hand at all. The guns had never been maintained, as far as I knew. The sights were rusted and we were lucky to get one full rotation when trying to spin an open cylinder. Did I mention we were required to carry them loaded with .38 Special 158gr LRN?

Contrast that with the next company I worked for. I was issued a 4" S&W Model 10. Thankfully, it was issued to me personally, so I could take it home, make sure it worked properly, practice with it, and maintain it. The bluing was worn, but there was no rust. It had magnas, but I was allowed to change the grips to ones that fit me better (Uncle Mikes). I was also allowed to load it with Winchester .38 Special 158gr LSWCHP +P.

Which one do you think I had more confidence in?
 
I won't have anywhere hear the horror story of some of you guys, but back in 1981 when I started a security job we could take the supplied M&P or use your own revolver as long as you only had 38 special in it. No 357 mag allowed. I couldn't hit the broad side of the barn with the ancient M&P they handed me. I now know from being on here they are fine firearms, but that one was a P.O.S. One of the other guys there had a 4" Model 28 with Triple T's and let me shoot it to see how I did with it. Hoo-boy! Went to Warshal's Sporting Goods in Seattle and got one right quick; I qualified every year no sweat. Even shot a better score weak hand than strong hand one year. Guess I was concentrating more. Wish I still had it.
 
When I was on the P.D. here we had to check out our shotguns daily before they became vehicle equip. and stayed in the cars. Some were awful so I went through the rack and found one with a good action, took it home, cleaned it, Sanded and varnished the stock & forend. Then kept it in my locker.
 
1. Dodge Charger (sorry to any Chrysler fans). Very cool looking. But, the front ends fall off (wheels literally fall off), transmissions fail and very weird electrical problems when wired with normal accessories.

2. Winchester 1300 8 shot 12 ga. shotgun. I really want to like this weapon. Seems to only cycle about half the time. It could be me doing something wrong. I never have a problem with an 870.

3. Before we went to 800 mhz radios, the old motorola sets were not equipped with repeaters. They ended up being expensive monitors. Dispatch would call us and we would have to find a phone to call in. Thrilling.
 
glwt06 said:
1. Dodge Charger (sorry to any Chrysler fans). Very cool looking. But, the front ends fall off (wheels literally fall off), transmissions fail and very weird electrical problems when wired with normal accessories.
Click to expand...

Doesn't surprise me at all. An Ofc I did a ride along with, said they loved the speed of the chargers, but it was killing their maint. budget because the front ends would wear out so much quicker than the Crown Vics, so they were going back to them.
 
When I first joined my old department and was in their academy, the big day came when we were to be issued our assigned duty revolvers.
What a disappointment. There were about 20 academy cadets seated in a 'U' formation at tables.
A cardboard box was passed down the line with various models of Colt .357's in it. All had had hard lives. There were Troopers, Trooper MK III's, and Border Patrol models. Some had beat-up grips and 20% of the bluing left, some had Pachmayr's on them in early stages of dry-rot.

Luckily, all Colts were replaced by M66's a few years later.

And cars - oh my. Hodge-podge collection of Plymouth Fury's, Chev. Malibu's, Novas, etc.
The Plymouths front ends seemed to wear out quickly to the point of being dangerous. They would do their own lane change without you being involved.
It was fun watching a small bit of pavement pass by from the rot-holes in some of the floorboards. If you sat still idling too long, you'd get a headache from the carbon monoxide.

The various UHF radios were mounted somewhere over the transmission hump. The mounts were made from the sheet metal used by the city's sign shop and the radios sandwiched between these using threaded rod.

The kids that work there now have VERY nice state of the art equipment.
 
When I went through mandate training in 1978, I had not been issued a sidearm of any kind. OK, so I used my 6" Model 28 and won the little trophy for best qualifying score...that worked out alright.

Next, I was issued a nickeled, pencil barrel Model 10 but NO holster, belt or anything. When I asked about this I was told that I wasn't really supposed to carry it on me but at least have it available in the truck if I needed it.:rolleyes: (The job was a deputy conservation ranger; the bunch I worked under had NO clue what law enforcement entailed...NONE. The guy that had the job before I did had been threatened once by a subject with a knife. He trooped back to his truck, got his gun and arrested HER. That episode sounded more pathetic to me than Barney Fife digging his bullet out of his pocket.)

After I threatened a personnel action about it, a ruling came down from on high that we were to be issued the appropriate gear. I never saw it, however, since the lease on the particular area that I was to be working on was not renewed and therefore I was out of the LE business for a few years. Looney tunes, but that was the way things were back then for some of us; they wanted you to be seen, but didn't want you to actually do anything.
 
I can't complain about anything. I guess I've been lucky. However, many years ago at a homicide scene, a Captain drove up in his department vehicle. As he approached the scene, the power steering pump in his car exploded spraying power steering fluid on the hot engine. So there we were, on one side of the street we were dealing with a homicide, and the fire department on the other side of the street putting out the fire in the Captain's car.

We knew better not to laugh, because the Captain was not happy and would not have seen anything amusing about his burning car.
 
jag312 said:
I can't complain about anything. I guess I've been lucky. However, many years ago at a homicide scene, a Captain drove up in his department vehicle. As he approached the scene, the power steering pump in his car exploded spraying power steering fluid on the hot engine. So there we were, on one side of the street we were dealing with a homicide, and the fire department on the other side of the street putting out the fire in the Captain's car.

We knew better not to laugh, because the Captain was not happy and would not have seen anything amusing about his burning car.
Click to expand...

You should've told him to look on the bright side - he gets a new car! :p

And if that's not enough, remind at least he's not in Oakland... :eek:
 
Uhhh, Jimmy, I think someone upstairs is trying to tell you something. Are you sure this job is gonna be worth it?:cool:
 
You guys are bringing up some memories. I was hired in '77. We were issued uniforms, leather, and a 4" m66. They ran out of m66's so for the first 3-4 months I carried my personal 4" m10 until a m66 became available for me. No vests, no batons, nothing for defense other than a flashlight (bought our own), beat up Remington 870 shotguns checked out daily, and our revolvers.
We were driving 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix which weren't terribly bad but we had no overheads (they were "on order"). We had blue spotlights and stars on the doors and those were the only identifiers other than "wail and yelp" sirens. Running code was truly an adventure.
I started in June and the Sheriff was up for election in November and somehow citations had not been reordered. Virtually no deputies had any blank citations so the only citations being written were for the most serious violations like DWI and Reckless Driving. If you had one of those that needed to be written you polled your coworkers via radio and if one couldn't be located that way attempted to contact the State Patrol or a city officer to see if they could loan you one.
There were only 1 or 2 portable radios available so most shifts you went without. The county was riddled with "dead spots" so at times unless you had access to a telephone you were without communication.
The administration had an attitude that if you needed cover you were in the wrong occupation and you weren't allowed to leave your district unless directed to by dispatch or a supervisor.
 
Boy some of these posts bring back early memories in L.E. The fumes coming up through the rotted floorboards and the headaches I can relate to. Had an old Ford with a 428 ci motor. Thing could fly but it took several blocks to stop after speeder in front pulled over. Had sirens back then but they worked in conjunction with the horn. Had a switch on the dash. Switch down horn worked. Switch up you then pushed the horn and the siren would start winding up. Had good quality weapons/leather because Officers had to supply their own. Radar units were hugh and hung on the rear door window. I know some of you remember those?
 
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