Crisis resolution is something you hear a lot about from SWAT. It’s not about discharging a firearm; it’s about resolving a bad situation with minimal harm to all involved—the perpetrator, the officer and the public. As LAPD SWAT Commanding Officer Lt. II Michael Albanese explained, it is critical that members of his unit maintain their focus on the humanity of both the victims and the perpetrators.

LAPD SWAT is divided into two smaller teams which are alternately on call. When not occupied in responding to a SWAT call-up, officers spend their time serving high-risk warrants, backing up Metro and Patrol officers, working out and, of course, training.

Kimber Goes Online
Each officer is issued two Kimber pistols, one with and one without a gun-mounted SureFire flashlight. As the lights are not quickly detachable, officers carry the light-enhanced guns when they know that they’ll be operating in a low-light environment and the plain pistols supplemented with hand-held lights for general duty. Light is now widely acknowledged as a “force level option” in law enforcement, thanks largely to the powerful units produced by SureFire and the techniques developed by the SureFire Institute.

Officers underwent a brief but thorough transition to the Kimbers, familiarizing themselves with their new handguns both in the classroom and at the range. Department armorers, as well as Kimber personnel, were on hand to explain take-down procedures and maintenance, and to see if any individual’s shooting technique necessitated front sight modification. Despite the workout the officers gave their guns, save for the needed sight tweaks for some officers, there was no grumbling about the pistols’ performance. LAPD SWAT’s sidearm is now on a par with the general excellence of its other gear and the unit as a whole.

While even the best pistol is generally a distant second to a long-arm in combat, there are several circumstances where the pistol is more suitable. These may include very close quarters where a long-gun cannot be easily swung or maneuvered, times when an officer needs one hand free to manipulate another piece of equipment or control a suspect, or as a back-up to a long-gun that has run empty.

As Lt. II Albanese likes to say of SWAT, “We’re the last phone call.” SWAT officers are the “go-to” guys in a crisis and, when the chips are down, the Kimber Custom TLE II is now their “go-to” gun.