Hong Kong police to replace US-made service revolver with Chinese-made pistols
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong police will gradually replace US-made revolvers with mainland Chinese-made pistols as their service weapons, with the first batch expected as early as later this month.
Police confirmed to HKFP on Friday that the current US-manufactured service weapons – Smith and Wesson Model 10 revolvers and the SIG P250 pistols – would be gradually retired and replaced by mainland Chinese-made pistols CF98-A and CS/LP5.
Officers could be equipped with the new weapons as early as July 25, the force said. The first batches to receive training would be the police emergency unit, the tactical unit, the quick reaction force, and the criminal investigation department of the police headquarters, they added.
Officers yet to receive training will continue to carry out their duties with the old US models.
Speaking to selected local media on Thursday, Superintendent Ko Cheuk-hang of the police support wing said the entire replacement would be “a long-term process” with 2,000 officers expected to be trained for the new weapons every year.
Citing sources, local media reported that it may take as long as 10 years for the city’s 33,000-odd police officers to make the switch, as it involved training and officers passing a test to use the new pistols.
Ko did not disclose the number of guns imported and the costs involved during the press conference, citing confidentiality.
When asked whether the decision to switch to Chinese pistols was affected by foreign sanctions that banned the exports of weaponry to the city, Ko said the force had complied with the government’s procurement requirements and compared guns manufactured by different places.
“It involves a lot of factors, such as the procurement procedure, government resources, and the selection process has been very rigorous,” he said in Cantonese.
The two new 9-millemetre pistols will be allocated to frontline officers and criminal investigative officers, police said.
According to chief inspector Tang Che-leung from the weapons training division, who also spoke on Thursday, the mainland China-made pistols were safer, faster to reload than traditional revolvers, and had a grip more suitable for Asian hands.
Tang said the mainland pistols were designed with a manual safety switch that could prevent the gun from firing accidentally – a feature that was not found on the current service revolver.
“The new semi-automatic pistols could meet the practical demands of officers to perform their duties in terms of critical indicators such as safety, speed, and stability,” he said in Cantonese.
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