Sioux Falls Police Department switches to 9mm

According to Sioux Falls police chief Doug Barthel, the Sioux Falls Police Department will be ditching their .40 S&W Glock 22 pistols in favor of a 9mm pistol sometime this year.

“When it comes to determining what kind of guns we carry, accuracy is by far the most important factor,” Barthel said. “We’d much rather have them put more rounds on target than have something with a little bigger caliber but not necessarily hit on time.

The new pistols will likely be Glock 17s, although that’s not yet been confirmed. The new handguns will definitely have a capacity of 17+1, a two round improvement over their current issue Glock 22s. Sioux Falls PD’s switch to 9mm runs contrary to the trend in South Dakota, where the vast majority of agencies still issue .40 S&W pistols to their officers or allow individual officer purchase of pistols.

This marks the first time that Sioux Falls PD has purchased new handguns at the departmental level since 1996. As part of their purchase program, the existing Glock 22s will be sold back for $250; this is a fairly standard arrangement during departmental firearms purchases. These Glocks will eventually be resold to the general public as “police trade-ins”. Police trade guns have long been viewed by the general gun owning public as a excellent source of quality, reliable guns for self-defense and sport. In the 1990s, police trade-in guns were a great place to find S&W K-frame revolvers.

Sioux Falls PD noted that they have made the switch to the new 9mm pistols in order to improve officer efficiency and accuracy with their duty firearms; the lighter recoiling 9mm will be easier for officers to qualify and become proficient with than the relatively harsh .40 S&W.