It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
450 million is a maximum order over five years. The minimum number is less than 1 million, if I remember correctly.
The minimum isn't really very high if you consider each agent in the field carries between 36 and 45 rounds at all times. Those rounds are fired off once a year for qualifying and replaced. They are required to fire either a 50 or 100 round day qualifer and an equal number of shots for night qualifications. This is required semi-anually or anually depending on the department. Plus, the department usually offers the officers 200 - 400 rounds for practice on a monthly basis. As you see, the amount of ammo a department uses can climb quickly even when they are not using them in confrontational situations.
The reason they use hollow point ammunition for target practice is to insure that agents are familliar with the ballistics of a round. It is important that you are use to the recoil and performance of a round. It develops muscle memory and works towards improved accuracy during a real confrontation. It is more expensive, but it is necessary when you are tasked with protecting innocent lives while stopping a criminal.
The bullets they are talking about do not explode or do anything sinister. They enter flesh and open up. This helps prevent over penetration and protects innocent lives. It also opens a larger cavitity and leads to more rapid blood loss. That means the confrontations end more quickly. Again it protects innocent bystanders by limiting the amount of time required to stop the confrontation. (Over 70% of people shot with guns survive. Hollow points are not intended to cause more deaths or anything of that nature.)
The reason the bullets must pass through bariers is, most shoot outs involve criminals using cars, doors, or other intermediate barriers for concealment.