do any Law Enforcement men/women here use high CRI lights on duty?

so I work for my university's Public Safety Department as a student officer (not a sworn one, that being said I don't arrest, etc.)

anyways, I got to wondering: do any of yall who ARE currently LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) use High-CRI lights on duty? I think they could potentially be useful in some situations, however, I don't know that they (the high-CRI lights) are bright enough where they'd be useful in 95% of situations you law officers would encounter.

is that correct? I was thinking that if you're a detective perhaps, a high CRI light might come in handy pretty well. Thoughts?

I do forensic investigations and inspections...and the ability to render details is important most of the time. There are some quite bright lights that can fill this role though...and the right light for the job might be a ZebraLight SC600W @~640 lumens, or a Warm Big Bruiser emitting ~ 3,000 lumens, etc.

I might use UV and/or IR as well though, etc...

In a tactical situation, where perps might be hiding...it is easier to SEE them if details are more readily apparent. In a search and rescue situation, finding the hurt or injured, etc...might mean trying to distinguish a person prone in brush, or other hard to resolve image...and being able to resolve detail, again, helps.

For very long ranges...it takes a LOT of light to see colors, and its often worth it to get more lumens out there than a high CRI, etc...if you have to choose.

In foul weather, a warmer tint doesn't glare as badly as the bluer light...blue tints all but disappear when shining on wet surfaces, in fog, etc.



For MOST LEO, the CRI is probably not critical....but it typically doesn't hurt.

I currently only use HCRI in my duty lights. I have a Surefire C2 with a lumens factory HCRI drop in on my belt. I also carry a modified Surefire L1 modified with a HCRI XPG.

I think the HCRI LEDs are plenty bright for use on duty. Back when I started about 10 years ago I carried a Surefire 6P with the P60 as my primary and that is much dimmer than current LED tech and my backup/car search light was a E1E incan. Also the binning on my two HCRI lights are Q2 and Q5 respectively. Just a couple years ago Q5 was pretty much the brightest LED out there. I love my HCRI, warm and neutral lights.

M61N here (first batch).

Never tried/saw the new M61W high cri though.

I used a Fenix TK20 for several years, and though most of my lights now are cool or neutral, I prefer the neutral to warm if possible.

How do you know if your M61N is a first batch or not?
BTW, you NEED to try the M61W, it's by FAR my favorite Malkoff, of the 14 I currently have. The M61W is the only one I own 2 of. That's saying a lot! Definitely give it a shot.

ToNIX said:

M61N here (first batch).

Never tried/saw the new M61W high cri though.

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None of my lights are just standard emitters.
I will be ordering a few Neutral white or high CRI lights in the near future just to see what it's all about

I have several high cri light, but I don't use them for duty. For duty I mostly just need bright.