Three state public safety officers on leave pending handgun purchase probe

DES MOINES - The Iowa Department of Public Safety has put three officers on paid leave while an internal investigation is conducted into agency handgun purchases.

Maj. Todd Misel, Maj. Michael Winter and Lt. Richard Pierce, officers with the Iowa State Patrol, will be on administrative leave while two retired Division of Criminal Investigation agents review the agency's handgun purchases between April 2013 and March 2015, according to a news release Thursday.

The retired agents, Ronald Mower and Kirk Nielsen, will be paid up to $5,000 each to 'conduct an internal review/audit of the process for drafting and issuing Requests for Proposals for handguns for the DPS, the evaluation of submitted proposals as well as the awarding of contracts with handgun vendors,” the agents' contracts state.

The investigation focuses on two state contracts with Smith & Wesson, the Springfield, Mass., gun manufacturer, DPS spokesman Alex Murphy said.

One contract, active between March 2014 and March 2015, was for 'guns, pistols, rifles, and shotguns,” both full-size and compact, as well as trade-ins for used firearms. The contract states the guns and their accessories would cost $360 each.

Another yearlong contract, set to expire July 9, says Smith & Wesson will provide guns with magazine safeties at the same price.

The company could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

In an April 3 email examined by The Gazette through an open records request, Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan told employees she wanted to put rumors to rest about new handguns.

'The newly-issued handguns will be returned to Fleet & Supply. For ISP (Iowa State Patrol), the previously issued handguns will be distributed and ISP personnel will requalify on those handguns,” Ryan wrote. 'Sworn personnel must have confidence that their weapon will keep them (and others) safe, and their confidence must be based on careful consideration of objective facts.”

Ryan was not available for an interview Thursday afternoon. Murphy said he could not clarify her comments because of the ongoing review.

Ryan indicated in an April 20 email she had reviewed the agency's purchasing policies and found them lacking.

'Although inadequacies in the procurement process may not necessarily result in disciplinary action, it is nonetheless important to be clear, to be fair, and to be complete,” she wrote.

She warned employees not to talk with the public or the media about the investigation.

Ryan also announced Thursday that Col. David Garrison has stepped down as State Patrol chief, a position he has held since 2012.

Garrison's return to his previous position as lieutenant is not linked to the handgun review, Ryan said in her statement. She named Michael Van Berkum as the new State Patrol chief.