Whats the deal with LAPD and no speaker mics?

[Spitfire8520]

Some folks don't like the idea of a suspect wrapping that cord around an officers neck.

It's happened before.

This is the main reason I was told when I asked someone on patrol this question. Everyone opts out because of the belief that it will end up getting them killed. The other reason is that no one else uses one so anyone who does use one would be that one weirdo, and not fitting in is kind of a no-no.

There is certainly not a shortage of RSMs available and compatibility is not an issue. One can find a 2017 dated document that states Motorola sold an XP RSM for every single one of the 11,500 APX 8000s bought by LAPD. There is a huge pile of unused RSMs just sitting somewhere.