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Houston PD: Pistol Red Dot Sights Approved For Duty Use

In what may be the largest adoption of red dot sights on pistols to date, the Houston Police Department has issued a letter to sworn officers approving the optics for duty use. The approval comes along with some common-sense caveats; a Safariland level III Holster must be used, optics-ready pistols from specified manufacturers and the completion of an eight hour training course prior to putting the RDS into service.

Along with the details of the approved manufacturers comes an important stipulation: milled slides are not allowed. Personnel must buy a factory-ready gun capable of accepting red dot sights. In addition, officers must have back up iron sights installed either in the form of suppressor height sights or the Leupold’s rear sight attachment.

The move towards the use of micro red dot sights by military and law enforcement has been gaining steam in the past few years with special teams and units being allowed to field the technology on a more case-by-case process. With more than 5,000 officers on staff Houston PD is set to take the lead on electronic sight use in U.S. law enforcement.

The resulting data from required qualifications (scores using a red dot versus irons), fielding (models, mechanical/electronic failures) battery life and other variables will be important to law enforcement and civilian shooters alike. Real-world field testing is invaluable when it comes to picking the best guns, sights, holsters and related gear. Let’s hope that Houston PD is willing to share sanitized data (hint: call me).

Interesting.

I was told just recently that some military special operations units are starting to adopt red dot optical sights for their handguns because they are much easier to use when totally blacked out and relying on night vision devices. Although I’m not ready to jump on the bandwagon myself just yet, it will be interesting to see how this trend affects the sights. Smaller, lighter, more rugged (is the last even necessary now?) would be good for us all.

This is very forward thinking on the part of HPD. Hopefully they will make some of what they learn through their RDS training and quals known to the public.

A few of the small departments in my area have approved them. But none of the larger one yet.

For those interested, here's a "white paper" on red dot sights on duty guns, put together by Sage Dynamics based on testing and real world experience from 2013-2017: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd...91d3a95199590510.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Interesting.

I was told just recently that some military special operations units are starting to adopt red dot optical sights for their handguns because they are much easier to use when totally blacked out and relying on night vision devices. Although I’m not ready to jump on the bandwagon myself just yet, it will be interesting to see how this trend affects the sights. Smaller, lighter, more rugged (is the last even necessary now?) would be good for us all.

It's been my understanding that a certain SOCOM unit was an early pioneer in RDA research. They dropped it because the then available sights weren't robust enough. I guess RDS technology has finally caught up with demand.

Our department is T&E ing them. Glock or sig only currently. No specs on the red dot but mostly Trij or Romeo.

Howdy!

Outstanding!

I’m a retired Houston Police Officer and firearms instructor for the Narcotic Division. I’m glad to see the Department being one of the first In the country to be doing this. I was able to use a RDS on one of my duty weapons while still working in Narcotics and yes they do improve your tactical shooting abilities.

“Happy Trails”
Chiefneon

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
For those interested, here's a "white paper" on red dot sights on duty guns, put together by Sage Dynamics based on testing and real world experience from 2013-2017: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd...91d3a95199590510.pdf

A good read, I learned a few things.

Thanks for posting this!

Side note, are there really any more rugged options than Trijicon at this point? Ive seen the Delta Points fail but I dont know of many people ringing out the Sig or Vortex. I personally only run RMR's or Fastfires, but the Fastfires are obviously reserved for sport gun vs serious use.

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
Side note, are there really any more rugged options than Trijicon at this point? Ive seen the Delta Points fail but I dont know of many people ringing out the Sig or Vortex. I personally only run RMR's or Fastfires, but the Fastfires are obviously reserved for sport gun vs serious use.

IMO the Trijicon RMR is the only proven game in town, until the Aimpoint model gets released and vetted.

I have a Vortex Venom I took in on trade, but I've only used it on Ruger MKII and as an offset optic on a rifle. It's essentially a Burris Fastfire and made in the same factory.

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
Ive seen the Delta Points fail ....

In what way(s)?

Based on the above linked report (thanks! BTW), my comment about the need for improved ruggedness was evidently not wrong after all.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
Ive seen the Delta Points fail ....

In what way(s)?

Based on the above linked report (thanks! BTW), my comment about the need for improved ruggedness was evidently not wrong after all.

Lens breaking when dropped on hard surfaces. Sage Dynamics has broken 2 out of 2. Yes, I realize its not normal. That being said, if 2 optics are similar otherwise but one is more likely to break than the other....I'll take the one that won't break. I think we're there with pretty much everything gun related these days. Most products will work reasonably well with proper care and maintenance that its getting harder to decipher if product A is better than product B. We then start taking things to extremes to find out(i.e. the MAC torture tests), and even then its still subject interpretation.

Just keep in mind that report is a year or so old. There may have been some changes or new options introduced recently that aren't included.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
Side note, are there really any more rugged options than Trijicon at this point? Ive seen the Delta Points fail but I dont know of many people ringing out the Sig or Vortex. I personally only run RMR's or Fastfires, but the Fastfires are obviously reserved for sport gun vs serious use.

IMO the Trijicon RMR is the only proven game in town, until the Aimpoint model gets released and vetted.

I have a Vortex Venom I took in on trade, but I've only used it on Ruger MKII and as an offset optic on a rifle. It's essentially a Burris Fastfire and made in the same factory.

I saw the new Aimpoint. Im almost ready to not even consider it based on its larger form factor. It wider, taller and weighs more. Not necessarily the end of the world, but size is generally a consideration for me when im looking at miniature red dots .

I should also note that my RMR on my Benelli would shut off on its own during range visits. Its a common issue with the Type 1 and I haven't done a remedial action to fix yet. Just saying that even though the Trijicon is usually touted as th best answer, they too aren't without potential failures. That being said, I haven't seen the same consistency issues with the Type 2. Aside from physical abuse, Im not aware of of the Leupold failing under standard shooting conditions, any more than other RDS.

I wonder the reason for the "no milling" guidance?

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
I saw the new Aimpoint. Im almost ready to not even consider it based on its larger form factor. It wider, taller and weighs more. Not necessarily the end of the world, but size is generally a consideration for me when im looking at miniature red dots .

Agreed, but I think it's the only real contender.

But the RMR has lots of history / reputation, I think it'll be hard to unseat Trijicon from the throne.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
I wonder the reason for the "no milling" guidance?

Liability would be my guess.

The SWAT guys already have latitude in weapons with their training, hence the exception but if you let everyone mill, you have no control over who did the milling, how good it is, etc.

If you stick to OEM setups, you have some recourse with a large firearm manufacturer instead of some small time entity should something go wrong.

Milling also voids manufacturer warranties, and can impact stuff like future manufacturer recalls/upgrades.

Recall that a few members ran into issues with Sig declining to work on their custom milled P320s when sending them back for the drop safety upgrade.