23 Aug 01

Latest from LAPD:

"In response to an article in yesterday's LA times about the alarming rate of resignations that is plaguing the department, our chief has now said that people who are leaving are ‘problem' officers. I can tell you that, at least in my division, not even one was a ‘problem' officer. As a matter of fact, I wrote a commendation for one, just two weeks before he left.

In spite of the fact that the department is now getting rid of all these ‘problem' officers, our assault and murder rates are both way up. Gang activity is out of control. Traffic citations are way down, and traffic collisions are way up. We can no longer field even our minimum number of patrol units on any shift! All watches are now under the minimum.

But, our chief insists there is nothing wrong.

The LA Times also reported that our new, fifty-million-dollar, digital radio system doesn't work. They're right. From personal experience, I can assure you that it doesn't! Technical problems render the entire system useless a large percentage of the time. We've had any number of close calls because of it. The chief's response: ‘Officers do not know how to use these radios.'

I don't know how we are supposed to do our jobs.

The real losers are, of course, the citizens of LA, who are paying through the nose for professional police services they are not receiving."

/John

23 Aug 01

The end of hollowpoint pistol ammunition?

I've now had a chance to test both Cor-Bon Powerball and Federal EFMJ (Expanding Full-Metal Jacket) pistol ammunition in 45ACP. Both perform as advertised! The 165gr Cor-Bon round looks like a softpoint, but the tip is actually plastic, not exposed lead. The bullet profile duplicates hardball. The 200gr Federal round looks like hardball with a truncated nose. If one didn't look closely, he would easily mistake it for standard hardball.

Cor-Bon uses a hard plastic ball imbedded in the hollow cavity to initiate expansion. Federal uses a blob of soft plastic. Upon impact, Powerball opens up like a standard hollowpoint. EFMJ collapses internally, pushing out a segmented skirt.

Both these two rounds combine all the feeding reliability of hardball with terminal expansion worthy of any modern hollowpoint. The concept really brings together the best of both worlds. In addition, neither round will plug up on clothing as conventional hollowpoints sometimes do.

As this ammunition catches on, I predict open-mouth hollowpoint pistol ammunition will gradually disappear. Within ten years, it will all be displaced by this new technology. It's what I'm carrying now.

/John