KPD swaps out firearm inventory

New weapons are on the way for police officers after the Kaua‘i Police Department traded in nearly $100,000 worth of inventory, officials said yesterday.

The former, standard-issue weapon for KPD, a 10-year-old .40 caliber semi-automatic Smith & Wesson pistol, will be replaced by 9 mm Glocks.

With credit from its inventory of pistols and revolvers, the difference owed by KPD totals just $406, Sgt. Mark Begley said in an e-mail.

KPD brokered the deal directly with a Glock manufacturing representative who works solely with law enforcement, Begley said, noting the company will send the Glocks first, destined to arrive on island within five weeks.

KPD’s weapon inventory of about 400 sidearms, including a surplus inventory of Smith & Wesson revolvers that are about 20 years old, will go into the trade.

Though that surplus inventory was of no practical use to the department, it required secured storage space and maintenance, Begley said.

KPD needed the new weapons in part because times are changing and safety is a top priority, Police Commissioner Tom Iannucci said.

“I’m for the officers having better, more accurate weapons,” Iannucci said. “The world today is wrought with terrorism and global threats. The better the weapon, which the Glock is, the better off our police officers are on our island.”

Acting Chief Clayton Arinaga said part of the reason for the upgrade was to think ahead of demand, by addressing “the future needs of the department with minimal or no expense,” he said in an e-mail. The new recruits for the police department and members of the current force will be trained and have to qualify with the new weapons, Arinaga said.

The former KPD weapons will be sold to smaller police departments in the continental U.S. that can’t afford to purchase new weapons, Begley said.