Bloomington City Council approves new police handguns after safety and buyback debate

Image courtesy of the City of Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Bloomington City Council discussed and voted on an action proposing the purchase of new handguns for the Bloomington Police Department.

Ward 7 Council member Mollie Ward pulled the item from the consent agenda to amend the action.

Ward’s amended version of the item failed, and the unamended version passed with one “no” vote from Ward.

“I have a couple of questions about what kind of guarantees we might have that what we’re looking at now won’t happen again, Ward said. “Are there any warranties or any guarantees from the manufacturers that we would be able to call in if we were to discover a similar problem? What, if anything, are the options for recouping any of our costs from the manufacturers of the old weapons?”

​​The Bloomington Police Chief, Jamal Simington, answered Ward’s questions.

“We made sure we took a our time. We’re diligent in research,” Simington said. “There are agencies that have put thousands of rounds through this weapon and they’ve shared their results with us. The outcomes have been positive as was with the gun that we currently carry.”

“We’re at a point where we know that this is the best weapon to go with. We tested it ourselves as well and received feedback from our staff which was also important in this process,” Simington continued.

City of Bloomington staff said that ​​one of the issues with the weapon is that it is known to misfire on occasion without pulling the trigger.

Simington reassured the council that this action is the safest option.

“This weapon has had zero failures for the Bloomington Police Department, as well as many of our sister and brother departments throughout Illinois,” Simington said. “It’s been very dependable for us.”

Simington mentioned that the department’s handguns are rotated every five to seven years, and they are getting to the end of their shelf life anyway.

Ward wanted to strike portions of two whereas clauses and one whereas clause altogether.

“What I’d like to eliminate is the trade-in and the buyback,” Ward said. “If we as a community are purchasing these firearms because they’ve been determined to be unsafe and we’re making that argument that we need to spend over $100,000 to purchase new firearms to replace ones that are unsafe, I think it is it is not in the interests of the public for us to then make those available to be sold again to be used by members of the public for their personal use. While that may be legal, it doesn’t feel very ethical to me.”

Ward 2 Council member Michael Mosley said he had previously felt the same concern as Ward but has since learned that the Bloomington Police Department is fully confident in the safety of the handguns.

Simington said he has approximately 100 officers interested in buying back their guns.

“I had a few officers approach me today expressing, ‘Chief, this is sentimental to me this weapon, and although I may not ever shoot it again, it means a lot to me as it has for I think 25 or more retirees that have retired with more than 20 years,’” Simington said.

Ward 8 Council member Kent Lee clarified that the handguns will only be resold to the officers currently using those guns.

Simington confirmed this statement.

Ward 1 Council member Jenna Kearns thanked Simington for his clarification on the topic.

“I had similar concerns going into this meeting. I know there are people who are worried about the gun, but I appreciate the conversation and what was said tonight. It really helped put things into perspective for me,” Kearns said.

The Bloomington City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.