MILWAUKEE- Every single member of the Milwaukee Police Department that carries a service weapon will have their current model exchanged for a new one over the next several months.
The City of Milwaukee, MPD, and the Milwaukee Police Association held a press conference Monday afternoon in which they announced that the current Sig Sauer p320 will be swapped for a Glock model. Three members of the police department were accidentally shot and wounded after a holstered service weapon accidentally discharged. All the officers wounded are expected to make full recoveries.
“These unexplained discharges are a serious concern for our members and just as concerning for our members,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said.
The cost of the transition will be roughly $450,000. Funding for the transition will come from the MPD’s asset forfeiture fund as well as left over funding from the department’s last firearm transition.
Norman says transitioning service weapons isn’t as easy as swapping out one model for another.
“All parties involved need to agree on what the next move is,” Norman said. “We are a large agency and there are challenges within the bureaucracy, a lot of people need to make decisions on this.”
The transition is expected to take several months between the ordering of the new guns, the delivery of the new service weapons and the training of officers on how to use it. Norman says he expects the transition to be complete sometime in 2023.
During today’s announcement, Milwaukee Police Association President Andrew Wagner said his organization was planning on dropping its lawsuit against the city over the continued use of the Sig Sauer.
