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FIRE A R M S TAC T I C S BY LINDSEY BERTOMEN The shotgun is probably one of the most versatile law enforcement tools when coupled with an accurate and efficient slug. Here is the Mossberg 590A1 with Rio's Royal shotgun slugs. Photo courtesy of Robert Marvulli I'd pick slugs every time The old-faithful ammo offers carbine effectiveness on a tight budget W hen considering the proper firearm tool for law enforcement, there isn't a catch-all. Every tool has its positive qualities, like the portability of the handgun and the range of a boltaction rifle, but none of them fit all the molds. If we look at the appropriate applications of a shotgun, many law enforcement agencies don't consider its versatility. When it comes to ammunition appropriate for law enforcement use, I'd pick slugs every time. Unlike metallic cartridge firearms, the shotgun can be loaded with nonaerodynamic projectiles. Some manufacturers of hunting products actually use cylindrical, or even non-concentric, shot 32 Law Enforcement Technology to control or improve the dispersion of the shot pattern. For example, the same shotgun that can deliver a fully lethal round can also deliver a less lethal round. This is one of the reasons why we always designate a less lethal shotgun and use it for no other purpose. My personal decision to use slugs almost exclusively in my patrol shotgun coincided with my agency's decision to use slugs exclusively. This is one of the incidents that helped process the decision: In one of the most bizarre beat calls I have ever had, I was dispatched to a call from a shooting victim. On the line with dispatch, our victim explained that September 2013 www.officer.com he didn't know where he was after his (ex)girlfriend took him to an orchard with her (new) boyfriend, only to shoot him. Now he was lying on his back, describing his surroundings, which was, in fact, a ways from civilization. I would never have found him, except an out-of-state-without-reporting parolee nearly ran him over. Apparently, the victim had worked his way to the middle of a country road. The parolee knew where they were and got me, and an ambulance, there quickly. Because the place of occurrence was county, not city, it quickly became an agency assist for me and I cleared after talking to the sheriff's detective on scene. I headed back to my beat.