What appeared on the surface to be a relatively routine purchase of new weapons for the police department turned into an extended Bloomington City Council discussion, and a failed amendment before final approval.
The proposal to spend up to $120,000 on 145 new Walther PDP handguns for the Bloomington Police Department originally was on the consent agenda for Monday’s meeting. Council member Mollie Ward pulled the item from for discussion.
“Now we’re at a point where we know that this is the best weapon to go with,” Police Chief Jamal Simington told the council. “We tested it ourselves as well, and received feedback from our staff, which was also important in this process.”
The council ultimately voted 8-1 to authorize the purchase from Acme Sports, Inc., after waiving the formal bidding process.
The expense became necessary after safety concerns prompted police academies and training facilities across the nation to ban the SIG Sauer P320 currently used by the BPD.
“We actually brought a representative in from SIG Sauer [and] spent hours with us going over their testing of the weapon,” said Simington. “They did tell us, in their strong opinion, the weapon is safe.
“However, we can’t control the outcomes of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.”
Ward moved to amend the proposal to remove provisions related to trade-in and buy-back plans for the SIG Sauers.
“If we’re making that argument that we need to spend over $100,000 to purchase new firearms to replace ones that are unsafe, I think it is not in the interests of the public for us to then make those available to be sold again,” said Ward, attesting that it didn’t seem ethical to her.
Without those trade-ins, the purchase price would’ve increased to $132,500. After Ward’s amended resolution failed on a 4-5 vote, she cast the only vote against authorizing the purchase as originally presented.
Simington said the police department typically rotates firearms out of service after around seven years, and the time to retire SIG Sauers is less than a year away.
“We’re literally almost at the end of the shelf life for this gun, unless we went in and changed the internal mechanics — the spring, the firing pin,” he said. “We could do that to extend the life of the weapon, but we were in a sweet spot right now where the end of life is coming up on this particular weapon anyway.”
Simington said many officers, himself included, have attached sentimental value to their SIG Sauers, and the buy-back program affords them a way to keep the handguns after they’re replaced by the department. He said without the trade-in and buy-back opportunities, the guns would have to be destroyed.
Strategic priorities, health grants
Among other actions during the 100-minute meeting, the council unanimously approved its priority list for the coming year without discussion, following a brief presentation by City Manager Jeff Jurgens. The list names infrastructure, housing, public safety and economic vitality as the key focus areas.
“We identified three core principles, which are to make sure that our actions are fiscally disciplined, that we are looking at quality of life, and that we are also focused on community engagement,” said Jurgens.
In a separate action, the council voted 9-0 to approve more than $900,000 in John M. Scott Health Care Trust grants for the 2027 fiscal year, spread among 22 different organizations that applied for funding.
Catherine Porter of the John M. Scott Health Care Commission said notable awards include $75,000 to Home Sweet Home for operation of The Bridge shelter village, $70,000 for One Hope Project’s Eating Disorder Program, and more than $55,000 for overnight expansion of Brightpoint’s Bloomington Crisis Nursery.
“The funds that we’re talking about this evening really are helping with our Community Health Improvement Plan — our ‘CHIP’ — with addressing access to care, healthy eating, active living and behavioral health,” said Porter.
“These organizations that we are funding are also working on the social determinants of health to address the root cause of the health disparities in our community.”
Porter anticipates funding for the approved programs will be released by May or June.
CDBG action plan public hearing
The council also held a public hearing on the city’s action plan for its 2026 Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] funding, with an estimated $610,000 planned for housing-related investments. No residents spoke during the hearing.
The action plan emphasizes preserving existing housing, improving public housing, addressing homelessness and supporting current homeowners. Close to 80% of the funds are assigned for housing rehabilitation, demolition of unsafe structures, and other public services.
The largest single allocation would direct the bulk of a $320,000 investment for direct assistance to income-qualified homeowners for health, safety, accessibility and code compliance work.
The CDBG action plan is a part of a long-term revitalization strategy in which the city expects to invest about $2.5 million as part of a five-year consolidated plan.
