State law enforcement cites litigation concerns in $500K handgun switch
The Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement is replacing 400 handguns amid safety concerns and mounting litigation against the weapon’s manufacturer.
HONOLULU - The Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement (DLE) is replacing 400 handguns amid safety concerns and mounting litigation against the weapon’s manufacturer.
All DLE deputies and investigators have carried the Sig Sauer P320 handgun for nearly a decade, purchasing the first generation of the weapon.
Multiple lawsuits have since been filed around the country after officers and soldiers were injured or killed.
DLE reported to HNN Investigates that there were seven incidents of accidental discharges since 2020. Six of those were attributed to possible mishandling by the user, but one incident could not be explained.
In July 2020, the gun went off while holstered. The deputy was in the office at Honolulu’s airport. No one was injured, but the deputy’s holster and the office floor were damaged. An investigation provided no answers.
DLE Director Mike Lambert said the department is switching to the Walther PDP Pro.
“The biggest reason why we wanted to go ahead and invest in a new weapon is to mitigate any potential litigation for the state,” Lambert said. “It’ll probably be around a half-million-dollar purchase or so once everything is done. But what we want to remind the community is that if we were to have an accidental shooting that either hit a deputy or a member of the community, it would easily be a seven- or eight-digit payout.”
Philadelphia-based attorney Samuel Haaz represents more than 150 clients who claim they were harmed by the Sig Sauer P320. He has won three jury trials, with verdicts totaling more than $10 million. Those verdicts have been challenged or are in the appeals process.
“Every other striker fire pistol on the market has some sort of trigger safety,” Haaz said. “The P320 does not. And so what that means is the trigger is more susceptible to inadvertent actuation.”
Haaz said his cases show a pattern of problems with the weapon.
Sig Sauer has maintained the firearm is safe and cannot fire without a trigger pull.
“We haven’t tested the gun to the extent that we can simulate the gun going off completely absent of a trigger pull,” Haaz said. “But what you can see time and time again on video is that law enforcement officers’ P320s will go off in their holster without the user touching the gun.”
DLE is using funds from its training budget to cover the estimated $500,000 purchase of replacement weapons. The department plans to distribute the new handguns to deputies starting in December after the procurement process is completed.
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