New York’s finest are less than pleased with service pistol holsters handed down to them by the Los Angeles Police Department.
The holsters were issued over twenty years ago to the LAPD, who discarded the holsters for a superior model and then sold the old ones as surplus to the NYPD.
“The LAPD didn’t think it (Safariland holster model No. 2955) was a good holster 20 years ago, so the NYPD got them for a bargain,” retired NYPD Lieutenant Daniel Modell told the New York Daily News on Wednesday.
“It has a cheap snap, and the retention mechanism is crappy,” he said. “I had to replace it twice. One guy I knew had to replace his holster six times… Almost every cop will tell you they had to replace that holster once in their career.”
A high-ranking LAPD source said that “The only reason we have them is because the LAPD didn’t want them.”
The holsters have become infamous for their poor retention capabilities, making headlines after 30-year-old suspect Efrain Guzman wrestled a gun from Officer Jorge Monge’s holster on Tuesday and used it fire 15 shots at deli worker Wali Camara, fatally shooting him.
Guzman, who was wounded by Monge’s partner, is recovering in the hospital and will face several charges. including murder, attempted murder of a police officer, robbery and assault. Monge is not facing charges for failure to maintain control of his service pistol.
Critics of the elderly Safariland holster say the clasp allows the pistol to be yanked from the holster easily.
LAPD rejected the holsters in 1996, a mere six years before notable NYPD figure Bill bratton would take over California’s most famous Law Enforcement agency.
The NYPD has been issuing a newer holster -the Safariland 6360 ALS- since the summer of 2014, which has better retention.
“It has a straight up draw, which makes it harder for a perpetrator to remove the officer’s gun,” an NYPD spokesman said of the new model.
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