Back in November 2017, we reported that New York Police Department was set to retire its remaining revolvers. The news of the retirement of the last .38 revolvers came in a departmental memo that informed officers that they would have to switch to a semi-automatic before September 2018.

NYPD reports that 29 officers are still armed with revolvers and will be required to complete a three-day familiarisation course with their new semi-automatic pistols. One of the officers still armed with a revolver, Lt. James Darcy, of the NYPD’s Housing Bureau, spoke fondly of his revolver: “Whenever they see the gun, they realize that I got a lot of time on patrol and that I’ve done a lot of things and they give me great respect because of it.” Another officer, Paul Sulzbach, explained the sentimental attachment he feels: “you become attached to it. It’s been by my side for 26 years.”

Officer Paul Sulzbach On patrol with his soon-to-be-retired .38 revolver in Brooklyn (Craig Ruttle)

Officers were first authorised to carry 9x19mm semi-automatic pistols in 1994 with the introduction of Glock and SIG Sauers. The commanding officer of the NYPD’s Firearms and Tactics Section, Inspector Richard DiBlasio, told NY1 that: “a 9 millimeter has a capacity to access of 15 rounds in the magazine. A revolver has six. If you get into a situation where you’re exchanging gunfire, you exchange six rounds you now have to reload and it takes that time.”

DiBlasio explained to AMNY that during the three-day course officers will be taught “the fundamentals of shooting. It’s a difficult transition when you’re used to many, many years, in some cases decades, of using a revolver, and some of the instructors we have here are the best instructors in the world.”

Officer Paul Sulzbach learns to use his new SIG Sauer sidearm during a 3-day familiarsation course (Craig Ruttle)

The NYPD’s earlier internal memo notes that by 31 August all officers must be equipped with one of three duty pistols: the Glock 17 (gen 4), Glock 19 (gen 4) or the SIG Sauer P226 – all with the NYPD’s infamous 12lb triggers. Revolver-armed officers, however, will be allowed to retain their service revolvers “for use as an off-duty firearm providing the UMOs [uniformed officers] does not already have an authorised off-duty revolver or semi-automatic pistol.” The retirement of the department’s revolvers marks the end of an era.

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