Hawaii County police getting new guns; Old guns will be resold

Big Island police officers, beginning with its recruit class, will be issued semi-automatic Glock 17 handguns, according to the Hawaii Tribune Herald.

The officers will be turning in their Smith & Wesson 5906 handguns, which were last manufactured in 1999, because it’s become harder to get replacement parts, the newspaper said today.

The Glock Model 17 will be for uniformed police, the more compact Model 19 for plainclothes and undercover officers.

In 2014, the Honolulu Police Department’s 2,000 officers began turning in their 9-mm Smith & Wesson 5906 handguns for Glock 17 semi-automatic handguns.

The older, stainless steel handguns have been in HPD’s inventory for nearly a quarter of a century and were replaced by the lighter Glock handguns — the preferred weapon of many law enforcement agencies.

The Hawaii County Police Department has added $30,000 to the new budget that begins Friday to begin phasing in the new guns. Officials hope to buy 100 of them, at an estimate of about $400 each, the newspaper said.

The guns will first go to the recruits.

However, the Hawaii County police department plans to turn in the old Smith & Wessons to a dealer for a rebate of about $90,000.

The Honolulu Police Department last year opted to destroy more than 2,300 guns, fearing that the guns could end up in the black market.

HPD requested $600,000 in its 2014 operating budget to implement the first part of a three-year replacement program and expects to purchase 800 pistols, holsters and magazine pouches.

Honolulu officials said it will cost nearly $1 million to replace the old handguns at about $300 to $500 each.