People have been known to go on buying binges. But police departments?

Reading this morning's agenda for the Board of Estimates, which approves city spending, is a little like back-to-school shopping with your favorite cop.

There's $23,000 for holsters from the Lawmen Supply Co.; $13,000 for digital cameras from a company identified only as B&H; $24,553.63 for flashlights from Atlantic Tactical; and $24,000 for batons, again from Atlantic Tactical.

Don't you wish you could shop at stores like that?

Lawmen Supply, for example, has offices in New Jersey, Delaware and suburban Washington. Their web site says the company "is ready to meet today's challenges with law enforcement agencies in their fight against terrorism and civil disorder."

Does that include the six people shot in East Baltimore last night?

To be fair, Baltimore police bought a mundane item from Lawmen, holsters, skipping right over other far more interesting categories, such as night vision goggles.

Sterling Clifford, the chief police spokesman, noted that the items being purchased are ones that tend to wear out pretty quickly. The thousands of dollars worth of holsters, he said, are "used to hold thousands of guns." The digital cameras replace the old Polaroids, which are no longer being made.

And the flashlights? Police are transitioning to smaller ones. But I like Sterling's other reason  better: "We want to shine a light into every corner of Baltimore. That takes a lot of flashlights."

Indeed.

At 10 a.m., Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Linskey reported that the board approved all the purchases.