MILWAUKEE — Starting next year, the Milwaukee Police Department will replace every officer’s firearm with a new model after the current weapon unintentionally discharged while in use.

Chief Jeffery Norman said the current gun, a P320 pistol made by Sig Sauer, has unintentionally discharged while in use, injuring three officers. The MPD said the gun is prone to going off without the trigger being pulled.

“The importance of this particular concern was taken very seriously, why we’ve seen a quick turnaround was announced from the time it was announced and now we’re seeing these firearms being received and the transition has begun,” Norman said.

The goal is to have all officers trained by early spring. The MPD said training will take place in batches as they wait for the new guns to arrive. The 55 new recruits are currently training with the new gun, which is a Glock G-45.

“The gun has been researched by our team on what to transition to,” said Norman. “Glock was the choice in regards to that, not only reliability, but availability. As much as you want to talk about how we’re post-pandemic, there’s a lot of challenges we’re going on with right now.”

The transition is excepted to cost around $450,000. The department would like to use money seized during various criminal investigations to cover this cost, money that would have been spent elsewhere.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the department has full support from the city.

“There’s no higher priority than those men and women who go out and make sure the city is safe,” said Johnson. “Those who serve the city have enough to worry about already. They certainly shouldn’t have to worry about their side arms firing off unacceptably.”

Norman said it’s important for officers to have open communication with executive command, which will help in getting the training done as efficiently as possible

“This is no easy lift,” said Norman. “There’s a lot of moving parts. The last transition was several years ago. You’re talking about a large agency. I’m very proud of what the team has accomplished.”

He said the MPD is moving forward to continue keeping not only the community safe, but the department as well.