Howard Linett, Esq
Tactical Instructor, Expert Witness, Author
The following is an editorial that I wrote for the Israeli Hebrew language magazine MoGAN (Protection) in October 1999. It has been translated from the Hebrew.EDITORIAL
Time To Take The Next Step
Not that long ago the Israeli Police initiated a simple change, but one worthy of note and praise. Jacketed soft point became the operational ammunition for the .30 caliber M1 Carbine, the workhorse for the Police and Civil Guard. Extensive testing concluded that there was a possibility of "over penetration” using what was being issued, standard military ball ammunition. So a cartridge with identical ballistics was created utilizing a jacketed soft point bullet in place of the standard full metal jacket bullet.
This change in type of ammunition was a big, important first step in the right direction. In a single move, the Police not only gained a more effective round, but also one which was less likely to harm innocent bystanders. Col Ha Kavod! Now the time has come to take the next step. Change from full metal jacketed 9mm handgun ammunition to one of the many modern, jacketed hollow point, expanding loads specially developed for law enforcement. Ammunition designed to rapidly initiate a uniform, controlled expansion which transfers maximum energy to the target and regulates penetration.
During the last decade almost all American law enforcement agencies have begun using jacketed hollow points. Even the NYPD, the last major metropolitan American police force known to issue its officers full metal jacket handgun ammunition, recently switched. During his visit to Israel this June, I asked New York’s Top Cop, Police Commissioner XXXXXX why the Department initiated the change to jacketed hollow points. He explained the newly adopted ammunition is, “…more effective at stopping the bad guy, thus limiting the amount of harm done, while doing so with less potential for causing harm innocents.”
The change in M1 Carbine ammunition tacitly acknowledged what may had counseled. Our National Police does not constitute a “military” force. It is neither covered nor obligated by international agreements restricting use of certain munitions. The change also acknowledged the same reasoning expressed by the NYPD; if something does the job better, switch. The well founded logic supporting the change in Carbine ammunition supplies equally well founded logic for changing handgun ammunition. And then there is the issue of liability.
Israel is not America. We have more lawyers per capita than in America. We do not have juries handing down multi-million dollars awards against the Police for negligence. However the reasoning behind such huge verdicts is, in the future, likely to find its way into Counsels’ legal arguments to our Judges. In short, they will submit it is a breach of an obligation to perform at a certain level of professionalism if a more effective operational ammunition existed and was not issued.
More important than protection from lawsuits, is protection of the public and our law enforcement personnel. Provide the Police with the ammunition which is most reliable in stopping a wrongdoer while lessening the harm to which bystanders may be subjected. The last thing we want is to discover “after the fact” is that timely, accurate fire by law enforcement personnel failed to halt criminal conduct which continued. As a result the criminal was able to inflict greater harm. In addition bystanders were harmed by over penetrating and ricocheting bullets fired from law enforcement handguns. Take The Next Step, Change Ammo!