Council delays vote on $570,000 police handgun purchase after hours of public opposition

The Cambridge City Council on March 17 declined to approve a requested $570,000 appropriation for replacement handguns for the Cambridge Police Department, instead referring the item to the Finance Committee and laying it on the table.

Public opposition to the purchase dominated the meeting’s public-comment period, where dozens of residents and organizers urged the council to reject the measure and to instead fund community services such as the recently announced closure-impacted 58-bed Transitional Wellness Center.

City Manager Yan Wong’s request, listed as city manager’s agenda item number 7, sought to appropriate $570,000 from free cash to the police extraordinary expenditures account for replacement handguns. Police officials told councilors the department needs a uniform sidearm because the department’s current model, the SIG Sauer P320, was discontinued in 2022 and parts and new examples are increasingly unavailable. The department also said moving to the new firearm now would allow compatible holsters that interact with the department’s forthcoming body-worn camera rollout.

“Once they are here, once they are built, the company is gonna install…