In a lot of police departments, you use what they hand you. Cars, radios, uniform design--they could be good, they could be bad. At least uniforms come in sizes. While few officers grumble about being required to use this or that vehicle, some really complain about firearms choices. In some departments you're allowed to select what you want from a short list of approved firearms. And in some departments, officers in certain units have more freedom of choice than officers not in those units.

The officers of the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Investigation Squad have more choices. Besides the standard options available to regular LAPD officers, the 21 members of the SIS can now use the Kimber SIS. Developed for them with their input, the SIS models have features appropriate for a unit of plainclothes detectives who spend a lot of time waiting and watching--waiting and watching before they apprehend the violent criminals they have been tracking.

LAPD SWAT has been using Kimber 1911 pistols for some years now. That SIS would select a 1911-based pistol should come as no surprise, since the two units often work together on cases. Given the "high propensity to violence" track record of the offenders they arrest, selecting sidearms in .45 ACP was a given. The grips and frame are given a non-skid surface, 30 lpi checkering for the frame and aggressively stippled panels on the grips.

Wrestling with people as you arrest them can mean one-handed handgun manipulation, and sometimes you don't get to pick which hand. Thus the ambi safety, which is an increasingly popular feature on duty guns.

Violent offenders with guns means people get shot, and the statistics show hand or arm wounds happen a lot, so the rear sight has been shaped to be used as a camming point. If need be, an officer can lever the rear sight against a rigid object and rack the slide.

The sights have tritium inserts for use in low-light environments. The trigger is clean and crisp but not light. Again, arresting people who already have multiple felony arrests and convictions on their record is a high-stress event. Hence there's no need, nor desire, for a light target trigger pull.

ACCURACY RESULTS: KIMBER SIS
		ULTRA		PRO		CUSTOM/RL
.45 ACP	Bullet Weight (gr.)	Muzzle Velocity (fps)	Avg. Group (in.)	Muzzle Velocity (fps)	Avg. Group (in.)	Muzzle Velocity (fps)	Avg. Group (in.)
CCI Gold Dot HP	230	759	3.5	794	3.5	847	2.8
Corbon JHP + P	230	851	2.5	904	2.3	963	2.3
USA FMJ	230	727	3.8	752	3.8	805	3.0
Fiochi JHP/XTP	230	772	2.0	821	2.3	878	2.0
Magtech JHP + P	230	816	2.8	874	2.3	932	2.0
Corbon DPX	185	962	3.8	991	3.5	1,054	3.3
Winchester Ranger SXT	230	766	3.5	817	3.3	853	3.0
Wolf FMJ	230	629	4.5	686	5.0	716	4.3
Accuracy tested at 25 yards off a sandbag rest; figures are average of three five-shot groups. Velocity measured on a Competative Edge Dynamics M2 chronograph with screens centered 10 feet from the muzzle. Abbreviations: HP, hollowpoint; JHP, jacketed hollowpoint; FMJ, full metal jacket.

Shootouts sometimes go more than one magazine's worth of ammo, so the SIS models have a small but useful magazine well beveling. A match barrel, fitted to a solid bushing and with a tight but not binding lockup completes the ensemble.

The stainless slide, frame and other exterior parts of the SIS models are given a special dark gray KimPro finish. After all, Los Angeles is usually warm, and packing in plainclothes means lots of sweating. Besides being unsightly, a rusty sidearm is a sidearm asking to quit working, the last thing an SIS officer needs.

To set this Kimber apart from all others, Kimber designers made the grasping grooves into a stylized "SIS." The full-size guns have them front and back; the compact model has the treatment only on the rear of the slide.

Looks are one thing, but performance is what really matters. I went out to Los Angeles for the unveiling of the SIS pistols and met some of the members of the SIS. There I had a chance to shoot a few of the guns and see that Kimber (to no one's great surprise) makes accurate pistolas.