WML for Handgun

[HP911]

I work for a decent sized law enforcement agency that is pretty restrictive when it comes to certain equipment including a weapon mounted light for duty guns.

I'm in the process of trying to attend a POST training course for a weapon mounted light and going through the POST course training catalogue, the only presenter I've been able to find is the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office (https://www.sacsheriff.com/Pages/Org...ght%202015.pdf)

Can any LEO's here comment on your department's policy regarding a WML for your duty gun? Is the light/holster/training provided by your department? Are you even required to go through a POST certified training course? Are there certain restrictions for what type of light you must use?

Also, if anyone knows of any other presenters besides the Sacramento SO I'd appreciate the info.

Thanks!

[P5Ret]

We were pretty lax on WML's, if someone wanted one it was optional equipment that was paid for individually. We did have a requirement that anyone who had one also had to have a secondary light with them at all times. That came about after one of the Lt's did a ride along with someone when he was at the FBI academy, and saw an officer using his WML to write a tag on a traffic stop. There was no formal training, that I recall. Not too many guys bothered, except K9.

[1CavScout]

My former agency supplies lights (Streamlight TLR-1) and holsters. I don't recall if I went through specific POST training. We also had policy that you had to have a secondary light.

[ls2monaro]

No post class and we are authorized to use the streamlight or surefire lights. It is a BYOE (buy your own equipment) deal though.

[micro911]

LASD issues a pistol with a Surefire X300 Ultra weapon light. You can add a pressure switch without a problem.

[KD714]

In my department if you want to carry an authorized WML you must go through a class and prove proficiency.
I don't believe that it was a POST certified course though.

[John1960]

Pressure switches mounted on the grip of a pistol activated by squezzing the trigger hand may not be a good idea. (Note: the source of this excerpt is being withheld):

" A 2009 article in Tactical Response about police tactical teams using weapon- mounted lights and remote switches highlighted the extensive training that such systems require. “When training with light systems, operators should be familiar with all the functions of the lights. They have permanent on/off switches, momentary pressure pad switches and low-light LED switches.... Operators must be able to activate these lights and do so while covering their area of responsibility, all while being ready and able to effectively engage. The activation of these switches can alter the grip operators have on a weapon. They must be able to do both – not one and then the other.”

 On October 13, 2010, a Plano, Texas police officer drew his handgun as he moved in to detain a twenty-five year old suspected drug dealer. The officer’s pistol (not an M&P) was equipped with a SureFire X300 light and was attached to a grip switch. The officer said he pointed his gun at the suspect and intended to activate the light but instead squeezed the trigger and fired one round which struck and killed the suspect.
In January of 2011, a New York Police Department officer shot and wounded a seventy-six-year old man. The officer was participating in a raid on an apartment and intended to activate his SureFire X300 when he instead fired his weapon (public accounts do not describe whether the Emergency Services Unit officer had a grip switch attached to the light). The victim was a relative of the suspect but he was not the target of the raid.

 Following the Plano and New York incidents, SureFire issued a public statement that the handgun-mounted light was first developed by SureFire in 1986 and “was quickly adopted by SWAT teams, including LAPD’s (Los Angeles Police Department) D-Platoon” and that “. . . during this 24-year period the only reported safety-related incidents involving such lights are the two incidents mentioned above.” SureFire emphasized that every piece of equipment issued to officers “requires training to be used effectively. Flashlights and weapon-mounted lights are no exception.” Two of the four basic rules of firearm safety – including keeping the finger off the trigger and never pointing a weapon at anything you are not willing to injure or destroy – have to be “fully ingrained” through “proper training of sufficient quality and frequency.”

 The Force Science Institute – a private business which conducts research “to determine the true nature of human behavior in high stress and deadly force encounters” – provides training to law enforcement agencies – including the LASD. After the Plano, Texas and New York incidents, the Force Science Research Center published a newsletter note warning that the grip switch is “fateful interaction between human performance dynamics and ill-conceived product configuration.” That interaction occurs “under stress, when the exertion of physical pressure tends to become intensified, an officer pressing his middle finger against the flashlight switch pad will produce a sympathetic reaction in the index finger. If that finger happens to be inside the trigger guard and on the pistol’s trigger, the reaction may be forceful enough to cause an unintentional discharge.” Furthermore, “ideally, of course, the index finger would be outside the guard and on the frame until a conscious decision to shoot has been made. But research studies have convincingly shown that, despite training to the contrary, officers in high-stress situations tend to move the finger onto the trigger, often without even being aware they have done so.”

 Following the Force Science Institute warning, SureFire responded: “[S]ympathetic response is a real phenomenon, but it’s not the boogeyman and it can be addressed with training.” SureFire emphasized that the unintended discharges only occurred “because the officer’s finger is on the trigger when it shouldn’t be there.”

A 2012 article in Law Officer Magazine found that handgun-mounted lights are critical for officer safety but that “switches on many current designs are relatively close to the trigger, which can be confused with the trigger, especially if the system is deployed with insufficient training and familiarity.” The author, a weapons trainer and “former Naval Special Warfare operator,” advocated that officers should train extensively with a small handheld flashlight that should be “considered the primary source of supplemental illumination for most tasking and the pistol-mounted light serving a secondary role.”

 The Chief of the Denver Police Department banned the use of grip-mounted pressure switches in October of 2013: “Effective immediately; only standard weapon mounted lights which are activated with a paddle or rocker-style switch IN FRONT of the trigger guard are authorized for use. Any weapon mounted flashlights that are activated by FRONT STRAP PRESSURE SWITCH are UNAUTHORIZED (emphasis in original).” The policy change was in response to two accidental shootings that were “linked by a common fact: the officers were attempting to activate” their weapon-mounted lights.

In both instances, the shootings were found to be out of policy and the officers received significant discipline.

 The Los Angeles Police Department permits officers to install a range of approved lights, including the SureFire X300 Ultra and the Streamlight TLR-1, but does not authorize remote activation switches.

 The Dallas Police Department allows officers to use mounted lights from an approved brand (SureFire, Streamlight or Insight) but specifically prohibits “any type of pressure switch, pressure pad, or similar device such as the Surefire DG pressure switch.”

 The Austin (Texas) Police Department banned grip switches in 2013: “1. Pistol mounted lights must be equipped with a rocker style switch and must be activated with the officer’s non-shooting hand. 2. Pressure pad style switches are strictly prohibited for use with weapon mounted handgun lights.”

 In looking at the history of weapon-mounted lights and grip switches, Ken Cooper, a firearms and use of force instructor, noted in The Denver Post in 2014 that SureFire originally developed the grip switch for Navy SEALS. He pointed out that “the difference between law enforcement and Navy SEALS is thousands of hours of training.” (Cooper was an expert witness on behalf of the deceased’s family in the Plano, Texas incident.) "

[SoCalDep]

Cars aren't a good idea either... You might push the gas instead of the brake. Let's also never mind the many people each year (two in the last week or so of 2015) who shoot the wrong person in the dark. One of the victims was the shooter's daughter. She is dead because the shooter didn't have the equipment and training to deal with low light. Force Science made a horrible decision in publishing that newsletter and have since removed it from their archive. Sadly, many departments would rather defend the death of the wrong person in the dark based on the reasonableness standard than actually train to avoid the death. There is a pressure switch equipped light on my duty gun as should there be on the gun of every law enforcement officer in the United States. Proper equipment with proper training equals proper performance. The alternative involves people getting dead who shouldn't be dead at the hands of those who are sworn to protect. That is inexcusable.

[SoCalDep]

Might we also address the so called "experts" who use buzzwords and bumper-sticker logic when being paid to give the opinion the money wants...

Grip switches developed for Navy SEALs. So... What other things might also fall into this category?

Glocks were designed for the Austrian military, not police.
The M-4 Carbine was designed specifically for special operations
The Beretta 92FS was a military gun before a police gun.
I guess that Navy SEAL Sig P226 is just to damn complex for us stupid cops.
Rifle Optics
Weapon mounted lights (It's sorta good to know who you're shooting at but who am I... a dumb cop)
Rifle rated body armor and load bearing systems
MOLLE
Helmets
Air Support
The 1911
The MP5 (Because "NO ERGONOMICS FOR YOU!")

Law enforcement and the military have a constant exchange of training concepts, equipment, and experience. The statement that the grip switch was designed for Navy SEALs and therefore (by insinuation) not appropriate for law enforcement tells me the title of "expert" is debatable and I'm open for debate any time.

It doesn't take thousands of hours of training to use a pressure switch. It takes thousands of hours of training to be a Navy SEAL. If one can't see the difference, They're no expert in my book.

[CinnamonBear723]

My department is pretty lax too. They issue glock 21's with surefire x300 and pressure pad. No one at my department has ever had an ND from it. They also issue a holster that fits the light as well. I can't think of anyone that doesn't have a light here.