Last February, the Guttenberg police department made a declaration that the entire township’s police force needed to upgrade each weapon that the department’s 25 officers were carrying.
For nearly 20 years, each officer was carrying a regular six-chambered revolver as part of the standard weapon. But unfortunately, the six-shooter became obsolete and totally outdated.
“The guns we were using were issued 20 years ago and they were still operational,” Guttenberg Lt. Joseph Gryzbowski said. “But they were getting a little old.”
For years, Guttenberg wanted to stay away from using automatic weapons. Because there hasn’t been a shooting involving police officers in the township for years, perhaps there wasn’t a need to switch over.
But the Police Benevolent Association of the town decided in February that the officers in the township should carry .40 caliber Sig Sauer automatic weapons. The officers purchased the weapons at their own expense in order to have the same weapon throughout the department.
“We wanted to be able to have ammunition, just in case something happened,” Gryzbowski said. “We didn’t want to be caught going up against someone who can get off 14 shots, while we only have six. By the time you stop to reload, it could be over. It was definitely important to us. It was for our own basic security.”
However, after the switch was made to use the .40 caliber automatic weapon, it rendered the other revolvers useless.
Gryzbowski was informed that there was a company in Wyckoff, namely Police Products Corporation, that takes old guns and trades them for newer varieties.
“The revolvers we had were in a safe, collecting dust,” Gryzbowski said. “They were really no use to us. I received information from some officials in West New York who did a similar thing. So I made a call to Police Products, met with them and struck a deal.”
Gryzbowski was able to trade approximately 15 to 18 of the old revolvers, as well as two old rifles, for a new .40 caliber Sig Sauer and two H&K shotguns.
The new weapons were received recently and are being kept as backups, in case of an emergency. The even swap came at no cost to the township.
“Now, we all have the same type of weapon,” Gryzbowski said. “It was an even exchange, the old guns for the new ones. We were very fortunate to find such a deal.”