Some Connecticut police departments have either replaced or have taken steps to replace their officers’ duty weapons out of safety concerns, following reported incidents that those firearms allegedly fired without their triggers being pulled.
The publicly reported incidents involved gunmaker Sig Sauer’s P320 handgun, the active duty weapon of many police departments. The U.S. Army uses the military version of the gun.
According to other media reports, judicial records and reports directly from agencies, there have been incidents when officers’ duty weapons reportedly fired without their triggers being pulled. Some of those officers were in Connecticut and include a Stamford police officer, who suffered a knee injury in 2017 when his holstered P320 handgun fired after it was dropped, according to a lawsuit he filed. Officers in other states have also filed lawsuits. Meanwhile, Sig Sauer has repeatedly denied claims, both publicly and in legal documents, that the handgun can fire without a trigger pull, saying the allegations are “without merit.”
Two police departments in Connecticut have switched their weapons systems after determining that officers’ Sig Sauer’s P320 handguns fired without a trigger pull. A third police department, Brookfield, requested town funding to move to another manufacturer due to these concerns, although that department hasn’t reported any issues.
Sig Sauer did not respond to Hearst’s requests for comments. A general statement on the company’s website refutes the safety issue.
“Contrary to prior reporting, claims that the P320 is capable of firing without a trigger pull are without merit and have been soundly rejected as a matter of law by thirteen separate courts, including a unanimous jury verdict in SIG SAUER’s favor,” the statement reads. “The P320 is trusted by the U.S. Military, law enforcement professionals, and responsible citizens worldwide. SIG SAUER is extremely proud of our outstanding safety record and quality firearms.”
Sig Sauer’s statement said in those legal claims “there has never been a final judgment against” the company involving a P320 firing without its trigger being pulled.
Brookfield Police Chief John Puglisi explained that recent incidents involving other police forces in Montville and Orange during which officers’ P320 handguns allegedly fired without a trigger pull factored into local leaders’ decision-making.
The incidents spurred the department’s own officers to research other weapons platforms — including the firearms, holsters, optics and other accessories — and to request that leaders pursue new platform, Puglisi said.
“I believe it was something we couldn’t wait for,” he said, adding, “God forbid someone gets hurt. Sig Sauer has not issued any recall.”
The incident in Orange occurred in April 2022. A town police officer’s P320 fired without a trigger pull in a break area of the police station, according to Police Chief Robert Gagne. There were no injuries.
“The investigation done by our personnel determined that the P320 was properly holstered and not manipulated in any way, and it cleared the officer of any wrongdoing,” Gagne wrote in an email to Hearst Connecticut Media. He added that both the officers’ hands were “holding items and he never touched the weapon.”
The incident prompted that agency’s leaders to replace their officers’ duty weapons and platforms, and to begin training on their new duty weapons.
“I immediately made the decision to replace our weapons and we took delivery of, and completed the training with, the new weapons (Glock Model 45) the week of May 9, 2022,” Gagne wrote.
Across the state, a Montville police officer’s holstered P320 handgun discharged in the station lobby last July while he and another officer were attempting to execute an arrest, according to previous New London Day news reports. There were no injuries in the incident; however, officials opted to quickly replace officers’ weapons, according to those reports.
The latest reported incident occurred in early April, when a Cambridge, Mass police officer’s Sig Sauer P320 pistol went off in a school bathroom, according to WBUR. The officer is now on leave, according to Boston 25 News.
‘The last thing they need to worry about’
In 2017, Stamford Police Officer Vincent Sheperis filed a federal lawsuit against Sig Sauer, alleging that the company sold its P320 pistol with a design defect and falsely represented that the weapon would not fire unless the trigger was pulled. Sheperis, then a member of his department’s Special Reponse Team, was shot in the leg and wounded when he dropped his department-issued P320 earlier in the year.
Sheperis and Sig Sauer reached a confidential settlement in the complaint, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Jeff Bagnell.
Bagnell, meanwhile, has litigated other lawsuits against Sig Sauer. Bagnell said he’s not surprised that police departments have opted to switch to other weapons.
“I am not surprised. I’m very happy to hear it. The cops have their ears to the ground,” said Bagnell, whose firm is in Westport. “These people have the hardest job in the world already. The last thing they need to worry about is their gun going off.”
Bagnell said incidents where the Sig Sauer firearm discharges without a trigger pull don’t happen all the time. “But it happens at an alarming rate,” he said.
Bagnell attributed the fact that those incidents occur to the P320’s design, which is called a “striker fire design.”
“It’s an advanced design. Our contention is that Sig rushed it,” Bagnell said. “They married a striker fire slide to a hammer fire frame.”
That internal striker is held back under spring pressure like a crossbow and arrow, Bagnell explained. The weapon is fully cocked and ready to fire.
“Think of a crossbow with the arrow pulled back. There’s one little piece of metal holding that arrow,” Bagnell said.
Groton Police Chief Louis Fusaro said his department has used the P320 since the weapons were first issued as .45-caliber handguns in 2014. The department now uses the 9 mm version and has not had any issues with the P320 over the last decade, the chief said.
“Our firearms instructors have examined them carefully,” Fusaro said. “We don’t have any concerns with the weapons platform itself.”
Fusaro said there are potential explanations for the unintentional discharge situations. For example, a firearm might be matched with an ill-fitting holster, which could cause jostling, or a foreign object can end up in the holster, which can activate or move the trigger in some manner.
“These guns, they don’t ordinarily go off on their own — there’s usually some reason for it,” Fusaro said.
Transitioning to new weapons systems
Most law enforcement representatives who responded to a Hearst Connecticut Media inquiry indicated their agencies’ officers are equipped with weapons not manufactured by Sig Sauer.
In Cheshire, police Lt. Jeffrey Sutherland told Hearst that his department is transitioning from its current duty firearm, the .40-caliber H&K USP, to the 9 mm Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0.
“We have not experienced any malfunctions and do not have the Sig Sauer P320. We are switching firearms providing the department an ability to add weapon mounted lights and a new sighting system,” Sutherland said.
Greenwich and Meriden police are issued firearms manufactured by Glock.
Stamford police currently carry Smith & Wesson manufactured sidearms.
According to Stamford Police Sgt. Jeffrey Booth, the department “as a whole never actually carried any” weapons manufactured by Sig Sauer.
Members of the department’s Special Response Team previously were issued P320 firearms on a trial basis, Booth said.
Sheperis was a SRT member at the time of the incident. Bagnell, his attorney, and Booth indicated the P320 was removed as the SRT unit’s active duty weapon in early 2017.
Meanwhile, Booth said the department as a whole has had four different duty weapons during his 26-year tenure. Three of them were manufactured by Smith & Wesson and one was a Glock firearm.
Connecticut State Police troopers assigned to patrol functions have now been issued the 9mm Glock G45, according to a state police spokesperson. Troopers’ previous active duty weapon was different Sig Sauer handgun, the .45-caliber P220.
Connecticut State Police began the switch to a Glock platform in 2022 through early 2023.
“The switch was made in part as a routine update as the previous duty pistol had been in service with the agency since 2012. The switch was also born out of necessity for a consistent shooting platform across the board for all Troopers,” an agency spokesperson said.
The New Milford Police Department is similarly switching its current P320 weapons platform, not because of safety issues, but because the department regularly updates its weapons every 10 years, explained Police Lt. Lee Grabner.
Grabner said after “a lengthy testing process,” department leaders opted to switch to a 9 mm Glock 19 platform, which is “less expensive and widely available.”
Grabner said that five years ago, concerns arose around the P320’s firearms’ triggers, and Sig Sauer replaced them.
Aside from that, “[w]e’ve had no issues with Sigs in the 10 years we’ve owned them,” Grabner said.
In Danbury, police officers’ duty weapons are either a Glock 17 or Glock 19 pistol, said Det. Lt. Matt Malone, a firearms instructor and armorer in his department.
“The main thing about them, why so many departments use them is because of reliability and cost effectiveness,” Malone said.
Malone said in his role as an armorer, he’s certified to repair and replace parts if there is an issue. Officers also receive training on the maintenance of their firearms.
“As long as you clean after you shoot and do a good job of that, and your magazines are in good shape and you’re using quality ammunition, you’re not going to run into an issue most likely,” Malone said.
Malone said what’s “instilled” in new officers when they begin training with a firearm “is the seriousness of it.”
“The first rule of firearms training is to treat every weapon as if it is loaded … if you consider it loaded, treat it in a safe manner, you’re going to be safe on the whole,” he said.
Officers are taught to pay attention, too.
“You have to have your head in the game and understand you’re dealing with an instrument that can cause serious physical injury or death,” Malone said.
___
(c) 2024 The Middletown Press
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
