If you want a truly quality light at a budget price look at the Convoy. If you want a very powerful light at an affordable price look at the Astrolux S1.
Those other cheap brands are no comparison.
i only buy these 2x AA police lights to use the extension tube for my sipik SK68. otherwise most of these are pretty much a waste of money.
The police in my area use Maglights. Is that what you meant?
What do the police in your area use?
What was the Make and Model of the flashlight your friend owned, which you liked? If your friend could tell you that, I’d wager you could find its twin.
5 (or even 10) years isn’t a very impressive life cycle… Some of the “vintage” torches we discuss here can be 50 years old or more.
Welcome to BLF!
Welcome to BLF, get yourself a Convoy, and be happy.
I have a AA Police light. It is an absolute POS.
If you want a teensy but well built AAA or AA, why not consider a Hugsby? Nice and cheap, but sturdy, plus you won’t cry if you lose it.
Thrunite isn’t bad either, from my experience.
These are good SK68 Clones, i have had 20 of them with no probs
Every China flashlight marked “POLICE” that I have seen has been junk. As Dimbo the Blinky stated most USA police use 4 or 6 cell Maglites now with leds. They do double duty as clubs for six cell anemia.
Uh…
That’s actually a “Lateral-Cranial Impact Enhancement Device”…
Rodney Kings diagnosis from injuries was due to six cell anemia.
Since this is the Incandescent sub-group. . .
Dear "Olandezul01" ,
As you are from Romania (like myself) , and I know how hard is to chose here from all the chinesse crap , no brand..., just PM me and I'll help you to find something good in Romania , depending on your budget !!!...
Nice to find that "the light" can be seen , at the end of the tunnel ...sorry for the others , is a game of words in romanian language...
One thing that some of these Police lights are sometimes good for is that you can sometimes use one or more of the battery tubes to extend other lights, e.g., to make a 2xAA or even 3xAA light.
EDIT: That was how I originally found BLF, several years ago… I was looking to make a 1xAA light into a 2xAA.
Cops here have measly flashlights, when i get them to pull it out and then draw mine on them they go OMG, and its not like i pull a cannon on them just a fist sized light like theirs.
Wellp, how often do they use one? Or have reason to know there’s Something Better out there?
Here, cops have side-lights (LED) that are scary bright. Good for lighting up whole alleys when pulling up. So there’s little need for a good flashlight unless they go into dark buildings and the like. And then, a Mag probably seems perfectly usable to them.
And lots will want high-reliability lights like Suefires, even though the prices are exorbitant relative to performance. But they (or their department) are willing to pay for it.
Frankly, I can understand that. If you drop the light and it busts and now you’re stuck without any light at all, well, that’d kinda suck.
Me, I’d keep a spare, even a small Jetbeam or something, but if you only have one, it’d better be reliable.
Yes, there’s sound logic behind it. Tempered by ignorance of the amazing budget lights we have today, but it’s still sound within their context. 
Also I agree, I always carry a spare to my main torch. And it’s not that rare that I end up using the spare more than the main one.
Thankfully I never dropped a light all that far, and never had one bust, so I’m wondering what the failure modes are for dropped lights. Tailswitch? Component on the driver pops off?
Even if the front glass breaks, it should still work unless you dropped it in saltwater or something.
I was thinking that potting the driver would help as far as shock. Damn, forgot their name, but there was a place nearby that sold (specialised in) things like potting compounds. Rigid, flexible, insulating, conductive, etc. For a set-in-stone pill like a D26 or for critters like the Convoy S-series, the pill could be completely potted and still be removable from the light’s housing if replacement is needed. But the pill itself would now be one “disposable” unit.
From personal experience, what always broke and jeopardized the functionality was the driver’s solders. Had three Thrunites where that happened.
Hmm, so wonder if a controlled reflow (to de-stress any borderline soldered joints) might help.
In Canada there is a brand called Police Security that are sold at Canadian Tire stores. I have a few AA versions that are 60 lumens and I have had no issues with them. I got them on sale for about 2.00 with battery. Maybe this is the site?