A lot of police departments didn't even want officers carrying .357 Magnums.... "Magnum!!! That's so scary! It'll frighten the public! It'll look like we're out to kill people!" Even if you had a .357, you were often required to only use department issued .38spl. These types of administrators would have had their heads explode if they saw one of their officers with a 13-shot auto pistol!
My NRA handgun instructor in 1980 (who was a retired Deputy Sheriff) told me his son was an officer in the NYPD. He told me that what he did, and which was common practice on the force, was to carry his issue Model 10 S&W in his duty holster, but as a "backup gun" (which they were authorized to carry, and could carry whatever they wanted to) he carried a Beretta 92 IWB. He said that if he was ever called upon to draw a gun, it would be the Beretta, not the Model 10. That's how regular NYPD street cops got around the requirement to carry the Model 10 as their service weapon.
