A letter obtained by KHON2 dated July of last year details a deal between gun maker Smith & Wesson and the Hawaii State Sheriffs Department to trade out 350 existing duty issued pistols for 350 new pistols.
Equaling out to an even exchange.
But a whistle blower with the Sheriff’s division alerted Senator Will Espero, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, that there’s more to the swap that he wants exposed.
"There’s some basic bad decisions that appear to have been made," says Sen. Espero.
Senator Espero says a complaint to the State Sheriffs Director highlights that the new Smith & Wesson guns have been simply sitting in storage since last October.
"What has raised the red flag is that these guns have been in Public Safety’s possesion for a year and they’re still not being utilized," says Sen. Espero.
The Department of Public Safety says that’s because Internal Affairs is investigating how the guns were obtained, and if proper procurement procedures for such contracts were violated.
"This episode has shown me there’s still some issues within the division that have to be worked out," says Sen. Espero.
Senator Espero says the gun trade-off has also brought to light inaccuracies in the Sheriff division’s existing weapons inventory.
"That means someone is not doing their job," says Sen. Espero. "And we’re not talking about pencils and erasers we’re talking about guns, so that’s the concern."
The Department of Public Safety says all of the new and existing pistols which were part of the trade deal are accounted for.
But a source within the Sheriffs division says these and other weapons have not been properly documented.
"And if that’s the case the question is why?," asks Sen. Espero.
The Department of Public Safety says the internal investigation is ongoing. In the meantime, the new guns will be sent back to Smith & Wesson and state Sheriff’s will continue to use their current duty issued pistols.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
