The Honolulu Police Department will begin issuing a new type of semiautomatic pistol to its officers for the first time in more than two decades, Police Chief Louis Kealoha told the Honolulu City Council’s Budget Committee on Tuesday.

Over the next three years, each of nearly 2,000 officers will be issued a Glock 17, a 9 mm pistol made with a polymer frame.

The Glock will replace the Smith & Wesson 5906, a 9 mm handgun made of stainless steel that HPD officers have relied on as their primary firearm for more than 22 years, Kealoha said.

The move is necessary now because Smith & Wesson no longer manufactures the model and replacement parts are no longer available, the chief said.

HPD is asking $600,000 in its 2014 operating budget to implement the first part of a three-year phase-in, Kealoha said. HPD is expected to purchase 800 pistols, holsters and magazine pouches.

The Glock 17 is considered among the most popular handguns used by law enforcement agencies around the world.

Kealoha said HPD has not yet made a decision on what to do with the old guns.

The agency could destroy them, but the police department in American Samoa has also "expressed an interest in getting our weapons," the chief said.

"Our fear, especially with what’s going on in the states and different communities, is we put more guns on the street," Kealoha said. "I don’t think that’s what we need."

Dale Hayama, owner of Young Guns in Mapunapuna, said it’s time HPD made the switch to the newer guns.

The Smith & Wesson model now being used is "kind of a dinosaur," noting that the 5906 model was discontinued in 1999, he said.

Most law enforcement agencies are moving to polymer models, which are "lighter on the belt" for officers than the current stainless steel weapons, Hayama said. The Smith & Wessons, because they are stainless steel and weigh more, tend to recoil a little less than the polymer models and tend to be a little more durable, he said.

The other key difference is that a Glock 17 does not have a magazine safety feature like the Smith & Wesson, which will not fire a bullet left in its chamber if the magazine is removed, Hayama said.

The two guns are otherwise largely similar, Hayama said.

Glocks cost about $400 and will likely be significantly cheaper than the Smith & Wessons when they were first purchased, Hayama said.

During the Budget Committee meeting, Kealoha reported HPD is authorized to have 2,143 uniformed positions. Of those positions, HPD has 215 vacancies.

There are 126 recruits now in training, the chief said.