Police Want to Replace Holsters

Council to Consider Purchase

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

City police officers should soon have new pistol holsters to replace equipment that didn’t live up to expectations.

The agenda for the City Council meeting today includes a request for the Police Department to purchase 140 holsters and matching pistol lights from Safari Land at a cost of $28,892.

The new holsters would replace ones from Blackhawk, purchased in 2010 for about $23,000. The money will come from salary savings, said Chief Kathy O’Kelley.

The holsters are being replaced because of repeated failures with the matching lights mounted on officers’ pistols and the holsters’ mounts on belts breaking, O’Kelley said.

“We thought we had a quality product,” O’Kelley said, “but I have officers who no longer have confidence in the holsters. It’s difficult for me to ask officers to use equipment they do not believe will function correctly.”

The Blackhawk holsters were advertised as state of the art, and could include a light that could be mounted under the pistol barrel, said Lt. Lester Coger, who serves in the department’s Administration Division.

“The lights are used all the time at night,” Coger said. “It lets you see what you are aiming at.”

The problems do not affect the ability of the pistols to shoot, Coger said.

The holsters include a retention system that prevents weapons from sliding out. Bill Carver, former commander of Arkansas State Police Troop L in Springdale, said retention holsters are now used by most law enforcement agencies.

“If you get in a tussle, you don’t want your weapon to slide out or get pulled out by a suspect,” Carver said.

“We checked with other agencies that used the holsters,” Coger said. “None of them had any problems.”

The holsters worked well for a while, Coger said. After a few months, the lights stopped working.

After a year, about a third of the lights failed, according to a memorandum from Coger to O’Kelley.

“Blackhawk is a good company, but they haven’t made lights before,” O’Kelley said.

The holsters were recalled and replaced, Coger said. The lights continued to fail. Then, during a training session in which an officer pretends to be a suspect wrestling with another officer, the holsters started failing, stated the memo.

In one case, the holster was broken off at the belt mount. In another instance, the loop over the belt broke. Then a gun was twisted out of the holster without releasing the locking mechanism, stated the memo.

“We had a 150-pound officer pull a gun away from a 200-pound officer,” Coger said.

An officer’s equipment must work properly, Carver said.

“You have to have confidence your equipment will perform as it is supposed to,” Carver said.

Eric Ford, chairman of the council’s Police and Fire Committee, said a decision to buy new holsters could be based on one factor.

“It’s a safety issue,” Ford said. “Our officers need to have equipment that works.”

Safari Land holsters have been used by other agencies for years, Coger said. The department checked with agencies that use the holsters, such as the Dallas, Tulsa, Okla., and Fayetteville police departments, he said.

O’Kelley recommended seeking a refund for the holsters from Blackhawk, stated the memo.

A letter from O’Kelley requesting a refund will be sent to Blackhawk, said Jeff Harper, city attorney. If that does not produce results, his office will take up the matter, Harper said.

“I think we will have a sense of security with the new holsters,” O’Kelley said.

Meeting Information

Springdale City Council

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

Where: City Council Chambers, City Administration Building

On The Agenda:

-Spending $134,175 for hazardous materials equipment for the Fire Department

-Spending $121,000 to allow expansion of the city animal shelter into the old shelter building

-A proposal to accept maintenance of street lights in Serenity Subdivision, including paying the electric costs

-A five-year plan for the Community Development Block Grant funds

-A proposal to add notice requirements for variances requested by the city Planning Commission

-A request for clean-up liens on property at 669 48th St., 2889 Commons Ave., 609 Geneva St., 3207 and 3106 Kasey Ave., 701 Maple Drive and 2148 Woodford St.

-Condemnation of property owned by the Rock of Northwest Arkansas on the north side of Dearing Road, one-third of a mile east of the intersection of Dearing and 56th Street at a value of $57,000.

Source: Staff Report