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Thread: Undercover LEO carrying in his waist, no holster?

  1. #1
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    Default Undercover LEO carrying in his waist, no holster?

    I don't know how many of you have seen the show First 48 but I watch it from time to time. It is a show where cameras do a short documentary on real investigators in real cases. Anyway I just finished watching an episode where a veteran detective went undercover, he got all dressed up like a bum and put his service pistol ( a glock not sure which model) in his waist band in the small of his back. No holster just right in the waist band. I first will say I am prior military and have absolutely zero leo expirience. That said this stil seems very wrong to me. Maybe its for tv or something I dont know but I was just wondering if any of you that may have leo expirience would ever do this or have seen it done ro anything like that. I try no to be too critical when watching tv or movies on these subjects but this seems very wrong to me. Am I being too critical?
    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."- George Orwell


  2. #2
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    Ask the cops you know when the last time they arrested a criminal with a gun that had a holster?

    If you're going undercover, a holster will be a dead give away. An old cop trick was to wrap rubberbands around the grip, which would keep it in place in yourr pants, but not give yourself away.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by jeep45238 View Post
    Ask the cops you know when the last time they arrested a criminal with a gun that had a holster?

    If you're going undercover, a holster will be a dead give away. An old cop trick was to wrap rubberbands around the grip, which would keep it in place in yourr pants, but not give yourself away.
    This is pretty much true. That being said, I'm a civilian employee but our guys never go without a holster of some sort. We're just a small town and a long way from California so maybe in the future we'll have to look at the rubber band trick.
    Keep in mind it's only television and has no connection to reality. I watch CSI regularly (mostly to watch the gals looking for clues outside with their flashlights at high noon but with cleavage comparable to the grand canyon. Jocko I know "pervert".) I don't believe there a crime lab like theirs anywhere in the world.

  4. #4
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    Rubber bands is a 1970's trick

  5. #5
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    Well it is tv but its not one of those crime dramas its an actual detective that cameras follow around while he investigates a murder. I get the idea of blending in if he was trying to look like a criminal but he was dressed up like a bum sitting on the ground against a building observing an area. So I think maybe this wasnt the best move, he also pulled his pistol out a couple times on some drug addicts wtih a needle and he was waving it around all over the place with one hand like an 80s cop movie so maybe this guy just plays it up for the documentary crew cameras.
    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."- George Orwell


  6. #6
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    A friend of mine worked undercover a lot during his career. He seldom used a holster "because bad guys never use one" and he didn't want to get "made." The habit just carried over into real life.

    When I first got into law enforcement back in the late '80s it was not at all uncommon to see off duty LEOs carrying with their piece just stuck in their waistbands. IWB holsters can get really uncomfortable in this subtropical climate here on the Gulf. I carried that way myself for several years off duty, and on low profile assignments, and once UC ... then I wisened up. Rather we got a new policy that forbade carrying w/o a holster. Nothing like the phrase "diciplinary action" and "review of one's fitness to be a police officer" to change one's paradigm, eh?

    It's not necissarily dumb to carry w/o one .. if you know what you're doing. I had an instructor demo to me how he could carry a J-frame S&W tucked into his waistband (appendix style) and do jumping jacks without it loosening (... but, yeah, there's always that what if, and that ONE time, isnt' there?). I think a holster is always best, though.

    That said, toting a Glock w/o a holster and with a round chambered might not be the smartest thing ever done. Safety on the trigger and all that. Back when my backup/offduty piece was a Glock 26 I ... um ... might have partaken of such foolishness a time or two. But now ... um ... no, I'm older and I'll take a holster, thank you.

  7. #7

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    I bought a $85 holster and thought it was the right thing to do so i didn't Plaxico myself but I recently bought a soft armor holster that is much thinner and way more comfortable and very safe. It has a rubbery type finish and when I draw will always remain in my pants. I am going to start using it all of the time. It only cost $10-12 if I remember right.
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  8. #8
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    when making films such as we see on tV supposably depicint real life stuff, I have no doubt some of the LEO's dress to impress. It's the movies, remember that. There seems to be so many inside waist band great rigs around that I would think one would not have to carry "bareback". or broke back?????

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by jocko View Post
    when making films such as we see on tV supposably depicint real life stuff, I have no doubt some of the LEO's dress to impress. It's the movies, remember that. There seems to be so many inside waist band great rigs around that I would think one would not have to carry "bareback". or broke back?????
    As a former LEO I always used a holster , like said earlier to many good ones not to.
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  10. #10
    CCcop Guest

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    New to the forum but thought I'd post on this topic first.

    I'm a 15 year service LEO. Most of that, including current assignment, has been plane clothes narc or uc work. Most often I carry without a holster inside the pants. I have used rubber bands as mentioned or tire tubes to keep the gun from slipping down my pants.

    The requirements of this type of work are far different than most. You may have a great $150 plus holster but if you back me up on a deal, you look like a cop and I can't have that. It's not that the bad guys don't want you to have guns, they expect them. It's just they want them to be guns they see alot on the street carried the way they see them. A nice holster is not that. Neither are those nice cop belts we often use to secure that holster. But that's another topic.

    When I'm in the office on paperwork I often find that my chair or leg position cause problems with most holsters. Easier to slide the pistol around for comfort. Readjust when you get up to leave.

    I carry a Glock 30, Glock 22, Kahr pm 45, and a J frame smith this way. Don't get me wrong, a holster is nice and probably the safest and only way some people should go. But for those with the experience, eye for safety, and necessity dictated by the job; no holster is a viable option.

    Anyway, that's my little 2 pennies worth of input. Nice to be hear.

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