Actual Costs

Here are the actual costs for me for the Police Academy. Taxes and shipping not included:

$120 (3 @ $39.99) – 5.11 Tactical Pants in black
$free (already own) – Black Garrison belt with silver buckle
$89.95 – Police Tactical boots in black
$21.95 – Duty belt
$7.95 – Duty belt keepers (set of 4)
$free (already own) – Handcuffs case
$11.95 – Collapsible baton holder
$14.95 – Double Mag Holder
$29.95 – Handcuffs
$51.95 – Holster
$75 – ASP Baton
$675 – Handgun (Sig Sauer P220R DAK)
$358 – 1,000 rounds .45 ACP 230 grain Federal (LE price)
$7 – 5 rounds buckshot
$1.99 – Mouthpiece
$30 – Running Shoes
$30 – Misc Office Supplies
$200 – Vehicle Lease for Driving

New Subtotal – $1725.64

Old Subtotal – $1561.64

Yes, as you may notice, it is a difference of $164. Why the difference? Simple. Instead of going for their $499 Glock, I went with a $675 Sig P220R DAK. Instead of going $300 for high-end 9mm ammo, I went $358 for the Federal .45 acp.

So, why the Sig and why .45? Well, I’ve always wanted a Sig, and this is a good excuse to buy one. Plus, since it has to be DAO, there are only 3 real options out there, Glock, Sig’s DAK, or H&K’s LEM. Glock is out, and in DAK vs LEM, I’ve heard much better things about DAK than LEM. Smoother trigger pull, tunable, etc. And in the long run, if I got a wild hair and wanted to, it’s easier to convert the DAK back to DA/SA. And for the .45, sure it’s more expensive, but there are more reasons for .45 than against it. If I get to a department and have a choice of what I can carry, it’d be easier for me to argue for getting something in .45, since that’s what I trained on in the Academy. Then, you still get all the other advantages of .45, more energy, better ballistics, etc.

Now, I just need to come up with the cash for it all…