VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A new report outlines the roller coaster of issues with the holsters used by the Virginia Beach Police Department over the last few months.
News 3 first investigated issues with holsters last year and now the city of Virginia Beach has completed an eight-page audit into the situation.
Police were put under pressure from the public to get holsters with cameras after Donovan Lynch was shot by an officer at the Oceanfrontand there was not a lot of video of what happened.
Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate told News 3 the recent results of the audit were exactly what he expected.
The report examined problems with holsters issued to the police department.
Back in October of 2021, Virginia Beach Police officers turned their holsters in after an incident at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
At the time, the department told News 3 they were trying to make sure there is nothing wrong with the officers' equipment as an examination revealed a potential defect in the issued holster.
Matthew Christiewas arrested and charged with first-degree murder and malicious assault after allegedly killing his mother on October 16, then attempting to escape police at the hospital on October 22.
During the alleged attempted escape, an officer’s gun went off.
According to police, an officer responded to the hospital to take Christie into custody.
Christie allegedly ran from the officer, who caught up to him in a hospital stairwell, and an "extensive" struggle ensued. He then allegedly attempted to disarm the officer, resulting in the officer's handgun discharging.
Christie was then restrained and taken into custody, with no injuries reported to the officer or any other individuals.
A representative from the police department said they were trying to determine whether the holsters have any deficiencies and started a review.
On January 24, 2022, the police department recalled the Safariland 6360 issued just a few days prior because there was concern over proper training.
Officers were trained and then the holsters were issued again.
In March, an officer could not re-holster his handgun into the holster, according to the audit. “It was later determined the holster’s ALS was defective. Subsequent inspection of all Safariland 6360 holsters found 75% had a similar defect. Safariland stated that the ALS was improperly formed and was traced back to one of its two factories. Safariland agreed to replace the defective ones.”- according to the audit.
The audit went on to read, “On May 19th, 2022 during a struggle at the Virginia Beach General Hospital, an adversary was able to insert his finger into the Safariland 6360 and fire an officer’s handgun while holstered causing a non-life-threatening injury to a second officer.”
The officers were given the option to use the older holster – Blackhawk L2D. These have had the signal side arm technology added which allows for an officer's police camera to start working as soon it is pulled from the holster.
Attorney Kevin Biniazan said he is representing the two officers hurt during the shooting that happened in May. He said they plan to sue the manufacturer. “We are suing Sarfariland because we feel these holsters are defective,” said Biniazan. He said they are investigating the product.
The audit found there was merit in the concerns expressed by the police union and the officers but approved of how top law enforcement leadership handled the decisions made.
News 3 spoke to Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate, “It’s very complicated but the defective holsters were replaced but at the end of the day what we found, what I think is reflected in the auditor’s report is the holster that we are issuing is the gold standard for law enforcement.”
Most major police departments in the United States use Safariland holsters, according to the audit.
Neudigate said the officers needed more training on the devices and said COVID impacted that. He said moving forward they’re increasing hands-on repetitive training.
“What we see is there were some training deficiencies and that is not the fault of the officers involved in this,” said Neudigate.
He said another problem that has been recognized is that officers fear they won’t be supported if they need to use force.
He said he wants to reinforce to officers that the department, the Chief and the community will support the police.
“We will support you under the circumstances if you have to use force and I think that’s in the back of their minds right now and I think that may have contributed to a couple of the circumstances that maybe we did not use enough force,” said Neudigate.
