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Wednesday, October 9, 2002
Sheriff's Dept. Finds Its Guns Broken
By Jeff Jones
Journal Staff Writer
The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department says it has discovered a problem with its handguns that could leave deputies trying to defend their lives with only a single gunshot.
Glock, the company that makes the .40-caliber semi-automatics, has known about the problem for several months but didn't notify the department, a deputy said Tuesday.
The 270-deputy department scrambled to inspect all of its Glocks on Monday after two weapons broke. It discovered two more that were broken, said Deputy Robert Ray, an armorer who runs the department's shooting range.
Three of the four were among 230 new Glocks the department purchased earlier this year. The fourth was purchased by a reserve deputy.
The department asked the Albuquerque Police Department on Tuesday for spare weapons, and Sheriff Joe Bowdich signed a special order allowing deputies to temporarily carry their personal handguns once they qualify with them.
Glock, which has a reputation as a rock-solid, reliable weapon, is the gun of choice for many law agencies. Sheriff's Capt. Darci Ryan said the issue "is a major problem for Glock."
Several calls to Glock's offices in Smyrna, Ga., late Tuesday afternoon did not go through.
"It's not a good feeling to know (that) we don't know if they're going to work or not," Ryan said.
Bowdich and Ryan said the department earlier this year purchased the new Glocks to replace its aging arsenal of the same brand of guns. Law agencies can buy the guns for about $350 apiece, but the department traded in its older guns, spending about $5,000 for the upgrade.
Ray said that on some newer versions of the gun, two pieces of steel in the lower portion of the weapon were improperly machined. Those pieces may be prone to breaking under the stress of repeated firing. If the pieces do break, an affected gun may fire only one shot before malfunctioning.
He said a reserve deputy's Glock broke last week, and the next day, a SWAT team member's Glock broke while he was at the shooting range.
Ray said he called a Glock representative to ask about the problem and was told Glock has known about it since May.
He said the department's "serious concern" is that a deputy involved in a deadly force situation will reach for his or her gun and have only one shot.
He said he has recommended to deputies that they not carry the new Glocks until the problem is fixed.
Bowdich said the county attorney's office has contacted Glock, which promised it would provide the parts needed to fix the guns by next Wednesday.
Bowdich said the force wants Glock to replace all the guns.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Bowdich said he was signing an order allowing deputies to carry their personal handguns if they fall within certain guidelines.
Albuquerque police are issued 9mm Glock handguns that apparently do not have the problem, Ray said. City officers are not obligated to carry their issued handguns and can instead carry their weapon of choice.
City police have already given the sheriff's department at least 20 spare Glocks, and the sheriff's department has asked APD officers who carry other guns to loan the neighboring agency its Glocks until the problem is resolved.
"Any gun that gets into the deputies' hands will be inspected by the armorer and shot by the deputy," Bowdich said. "We're going to make sure they're familiar with the weapon we put in their hands."
Ray said despite the glitch with the newer Glocks, he's still a fan of the company's products.
"I love the gun," he said. "I think it's done us well for almost 15 years now."
This is the second instance in a year the department has relied on defective equipment.
Earlier this year, the department found it had defective bullets. Sheriff's spokeswoman Michele Arviso Devlin has said the bullets didn't expand properly when they struck their target.
Arviso Devlin has said the department received a refund and replacement ammo from the company that made that batch.
Sheriff's Dept. Finds Its Guns Broken
By Jeff Jones
Journal Staff Writer
The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department says it has discovered a problem with its handguns that could leave deputies trying to defend their lives with only a single gunshot.
Glock, the company that makes the .40-caliber semi-automatics, has known about the problem for several months but didn't notify the department, a deputy said Tuesday.
The 270-deputy department scrambled to inspect all of its Glocks on Monday after two weapons broke. It discovered two more that were broken, said Deputy Robert Ray, an armorer who runs the department's shooting range.
Three of the four were among 230 new Glocks the department purchased earlier this year. The fourth was purchased by a reserve deputy.
The department asked the Albuquerque Police Department on Tuesday for spare weapons, and Sheriff Joe Bowdich signed a special order allowing deputies to temporarily carry their personal handguns once they qualify with them.
Glock, which has a reputation as a rock-solid, reliable weapon, is the gun of choice for many law agencies. Sheriff's Capt. Darci Ryan said the issue "is a major problem for Glock."
Several calls to Glock's offices in Smyrna, Ga., late Tuesday afternoon did not go through.
"It's not a good feeling to know (that) we don't know if they're going to work or not," Ryan said.
Bowdich and Ryan said the department earlier this year purchased the new Glocks to replace its aging arsenal of the same brand of guns. Law agencies can buy the guns for about $350 apiece, but the department traded in its older guns, spending about $5,000 for the upgrade.
Ray said that on some newer versions of the gun, two pieces of steel in the lower portion of the weapon were improperly machined. Those pieces may be prone to breaking under the stress of repeated firing. If the pieces do break, an affected gun may fire only one shot before malfunctioning.
He said a reserve deputy's Glock broke last week, and the next day, a SWAT team member's Glock broke while he was at the shooting range.
Ray said he called a Glock representative to ask about the problem and was told Glock has known about it since May.
He said the department's "serious concern" is that a deputy involved in a deadly force situation will reach for his or her gun and have only one shot.
He said he has recommended to deputies that they not carry the new Glocks until the problem is fixed.
Bowdich said the county attorney's office has contacted Glock, which promised it would provide the parts needed to fix the guns by next Wednesday.
Bowdich said the force wants Glock to replace all the guns.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Bowdich said he was signing an order allowing deputies to carry their personal handguns if they fall within certain guidelines.
Albuquerque police are issued 9mm Glock handguns that apparently do not have the problem, Ray said. City officers are not obligated to carry their issued handguns and can instead carry their weapon of choice.
City police have already given the sheriff's department at least 20 spare Glocks, and the sheriff's department has asked APD officers who carry other guns to loan the neighboring agency its Glocks until the problem is resolved.
"Any gun that gets into the deputies' hands will be inspected by the armorer and shot by the deputy," Bowdich said. "We're going to make sure they're familiar with the weapon we put in their hands."
Ray said despite the glitch with the newer Glocks, he's still a fan of the company's products.
"I love the gun," he said. "I think it's done us well for almost 15 years now."
This is the second instance in a year the department has relied on defective equipment.
Earlier this year, the department found it had defective bullets. Sheriff's spokeswoman Michele Arviso Devlin has said the bullets didn't expand properly when they struck their target.
Arviso Devlin has said the department received a refund and replacement ammo from the company that made that batch.
