Three longtime employees of the Iowa State Patrol have been placed on leave over concerns with the state’s new contract for handguns. The state patrol employees are Major Todd Misel, Major Michael Winter and Lieutenant Richard Pierce.

Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan

In an email to employees, Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan said the agency is reviewing the process that led the state last year to contract with Smith & Wesson to supply handguns to officers.

Few other details are known, but two retired DCI Special Agents are leading the investigation. Ryan also announced that the patrol’s leader, Colonel David Garrison, is being reassigned to his previous position as a lieutenant. Ryan said the move is not related to the gun investigation and Garrison requested the reassignment. Ryan has named Michael Van Berkum as the new chief of the Iowa State Patrol.

(Radio Iowa)