The failures weren't due to separation, but lack of adequate penetration. As I said, my sample size was very small, but large enough for me to make professional decisions for my department and personal decisions for me. We stopped carrying them after the second failure. I'm also familiar with the processes larger federal and municipal departments use for purchasing. Actual field performance is difficult to measure when listing requirements in Request for Proposal or Request for Quote documents and agreements used during the purchasing process. So, it doesn't surprise me that LA and NY use Gold Dots as they probably met the standards (bullet type, weight, and velocity requirements) listed in the RFP or RFQ.

Deciding which ammo to trust is a personal decision, use what you're comfortable with.