There is some good info and a lot of conjecture here. I would say my opinion comes from a lot of conversations with my brother, who is on a small town SWAT team, tempered by my global experience.
1. Most departments don't have large budgets for training or equipment which limits them. Small town and county teams just don't have the funds to resource equipment or training and there isn't enough coordination or collaboration to create capability and capacity. These limitations create a sense of desperation where departments operate under constraints that could be alleviated with cooperation and funding. As a result, most agencies are ill prepared to respond adequately to most situations. This is a battle most agencies will never overcome. There is just too much inertia from administration.
2. There is a lack of technical expertise amongst individuals and administrators. This creates a condition where teams cannot sell/brief capability, or lack thereof, to higher echelons. Nobody wants to brief they cannot do something so it continues to limit them because administration lacks gumption. Someone in those departments has to grow balls and fight for improved funding for gear and training. The situation is unacceptable, by and large, for most departments.
3. For this thread, I would posit TC nailed the required equipment and if you gave me cash to spend at my discretion, I would buy a NF NXS 2.5-10x42mm for low end mag, top end mag, FOV, SFP, close focus/parallax, illumination etc as it supports all the required needs of a marksman in a "standard" LEO tactical engagement. That optic would handle, in spades, nearly any situation without fraud, waste, or abuse of limited funds.
