A couple of things:
I understand the phase 3 malfunction occurred with NYPD predominantly. Outside of NYPD I rarely have heard of this type, or any other type of major malfunctions with the G19.
I would submit that a lot of the malfunctions you id’d or heard about have more to do with the human factor than not. Sadly times have changed and many police officers, especially ones in urban settings are not really gun people. Meaning many may not be interested or inclined to incorporate proper grip with their chosen weapons. I’m not saying NYPD’s firearms training is bad, I’ll bet they have some of the best. I’m saying that though you may have lots of great police officers, perhaps their gun handling leaves something to be desired.
Why do I say this, well I used to work for a county sheriffs office in Massachusetts, and many of my fellow officers were not gun people, though their training was good, their qualification scores were okay. BTW we used Glock 17’s and 19’s at the time, w/G26’s as back up. NEVER a malfunction, now granted we were much smaller than NYPD, (but who isn’t).
Worked for a Police Union in Massachusetts, that represented police officers nationwide. Talked to lot’s of police officers. Officers from the South and the the West tended to lean more towards being gun people. In the Northeast, not nearly as much.
That being said I work part time as an instructor at a gun club in Dallas. Seen many a Dallas Police Officer come in over the last 10 years, using some “interesting” grips and stances, with equally “interesting” results.
At the same range we get thousands of people each year coming in to take the concealed handgun class. We have them shoot our G17 and G19 rental guns for qualification. Thousands of rounds through the guns, and the only time we have a malfunctions is when we have inexperienced shooters not gripping them properly. I teach private students, and in the years I’ve done it, I’ve never had a malfunction with any Glock 9mm the student used.
Some anecdotal NYPD “evidence.” The G19 is the single most popular gun issued to NYPD, with nearly 70 - 75% of your officers choosing it. Whether a chief was “in bed” with Glock or not, no one is forcing officers to choose a G19. They have the option of using a Sig P226, or a Smith 5906. A friend of mine is a Sergeant with the NYPD, he calls his S&W a “heater”, (unprofessional). When he joined 14 years ago I was really into Sig Sauers. So I was miffed that he didn’t go with the P226. When asked why he didn’t, it was because they were too expensive and they had major rust issues. Something I noticed from this and working with the police union, is that when an agency was not happy with some aspect, (usually the cost), of its equipment from a particular vendor there was an “issue” with the equipment, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the some of the rust issues with the Sigs, or some of the phase 3 malfunctions were not more of an attempt by the powers that be from the NYPD to secure better pricing from said vendors. I’m not saying these issue didn’t exist, I’m just suggesting that certain elements of the NYPD sought to make molehills into mountains in an attempt to capitalize fiscally. NYPD is a HUGE client for a firearms company to have. Don’t think for a moment that if a few members of the department, start complaining about “rust issues” with Sigs or a malfunction that seems to only affect Glock 19’s sent to NYPD, that those manufacturers aren’t gonna do everything they can to remedy these issues, real or perceived. And don’t think that the powers that be with the NYPD didn’t notice that.
YMMV.
Best,
Dave