FreeBSD is a complete operating system but it is not like Linux distros where everything is pre-packaged for you (but then requiring distro hopping to find what you really want). I can install what I want for a complete desktop system in about 20 minutes on FreeBSD.
I don't see whether the cops are doing this on their own time or not. I'm betting it's on their own time but it's unclear to me but cops pick up a lot of work for private companies on their own time so this would be nothing new.
If there is a safer, cheaper, faster language to use, someone would be using it. For another language to take C's place, it needs to be at least two of those--maybe all three and more. Market dominance, if there is such a thing in this area, has nothing to do with it.
I'm pretty sure C was pretty well thought out and wasn't used by accident in any way. After almost 50 years of usage, I'm not sure we can say it's "by no means permanent" either.
And almost every operating system in the world is written in C by top developers who are in the know. If there was a better way, everyone would do it, but they don't.
Let's quit pretending that any software written in any other language would be more secure and have less bugs.
There are thousands and thousands of APIs, properties, attributes, functions and so on for web programming. Holding up a few examples of past accomplishments from long ago is no defense for IE and the widely known vulgarities.