Funny they would find the .357 inadequate but then "upgrade" to the 9mm. Which is a less powerful .357, essentially. I guess they believe in the "spray and pray" method, where the hi-cap nines will let them put lots of shots into the target.
Personally I'll stick with the .45 ACP as John Moses Browning designed it for defense.
For the woods I like the .44 Mag, or maybe the 10mm in an auto.
A highway cop can have problems requiring more penetration than a .45 will usually deliver [Indiana's Conservation Police, headed by a one-time murder suspect, carried .45 SIGs when I was last out that way] and a high-cap 9 with the right ammo might indeed be a better choice. And the full-size Beretta 92 offers a 5-inch barrel and pretty good sights, so I don't think it was necessarily a bad choice for a department-issue piece; I heard relatively few compl;aints about the M92 from the guys trading in their M66s on them.
I agree with you completely about the full-size M1911A1, either as now again available from the Colt Custom Shop, or as manufactured by the Argentines [and for them by Colt] as their Modello 27, with that beautiful old 1930s-40s checkering on the hammer, mainspring housing, trogger and magazine release.
Out in the field is where I like the .357, as a lot of sportsmen have since its introduction in 1935. I'm also right fond of the .41 magnum for that use, but it's not for everyone, and I reload for it. I've fired six rounds through one of the new S&W .50 calibers, and don't think I'll be going that route in a handgun. But in a shorty lever carbine, or maybe a carbine-length Thompson-Center Contender, it might be worth my while.
-archy-/-