Hong Kong police are set to replace their standard-issue US-made revolvers with pistols manufactured in mainland China, the Post has learned.
Sources familiar with the arrangement said on Thursday the replacement of the service weapons for the city’s 33,000 police officers was expected to take more than a decade to complete, including procurement and training.
“It is expected the first batch of frontline officers equipped with the new firearms will be on street patrol as early as the end of this year or the beginning of next year,” one source said.
The insider said the relevant training would start as early as the end of this month.
He added the change was needed because the Smith & Wesson 38 revolvers currently used by most officers were no longer being made by the American company, and supplies of spare parts to maintain the existing firearms were dwindling.
The source said the force had opted to replace the weapons with a mainland-made 9mm handgun, the QSZ-92, which had a 15-round magazine capacity and boasted a faster reload time compared with the current six-round revolver.
The pistols currently used by criminal investigation officers, produced by Sig Sauer, would also be replaced with the same type of mainland-made handguns but in a smaller size.
“Supervisor-grade officers such as inspectors and sergeants are scheduled to receive training on the use of the new firearms, followed by junior officers,” he said.
Officers who were approaching retirement might be excluded from the replacement programme.
“The 9mm pistol’s design is also better suited for Asian hand sizes, making it easier to aim,” he said, adding that magazines given to officers would not be fully loaded initially.
The transition would take place in stages with new recruits, personnel from the Police Tactical Unit and officers working in criminal investigations being the first to receive the new firearms, the insider said.
The Post has learned that efforts to source firearms to replace the revolvers have been under way for several years and the force began testing the mainland-made handgun, commonly used by law enforcement agencies across the border, around two years ago.
