D.C. police recovered 31 guns, two body-armor vests and nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition during two separate raids Sunday, and the police chief credited new efforts at getting the firearms out of the hands’ of criminals.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has made getting guns off D.C.’s streets a key piece to her plan to stem violence in the city, and in November she established a 24-member gun-recovery unit.
“Less guns mean less victims and less violent crimes committed,” Lanier said.
On Sunday, police issued a search warrant in the 3900 block of 13th Street Northwest in Petworth and found 10 rifles, four shotguns, four handguns, five pellet guns and three starter pistols. Two of the guns appeared to be antique flint-loaded muskets.
Also on Sunday, police said they found 15 weapons during a search of the Rose Mar Liquor Store in the 1500 block of Good Hope Road in Southeast Washington. A task force investigating a robbery found the weapons and a large amount of stolen goods inside the store. Police said they will bring charges against the liquor store owners.
Police analyze seized guns to determine if the weapons have been used in a crime, and trace the weapons back to the original owners to figure out if the guns got into the wrong hands, Lanier said.
“Every time we take a gun off the street, it gives us a little bit more information to add to that puzzle,” Lanier said.
Since the gun-recovery unit was established in November, the 24-member team has made 200 arrests, and recovered 116 firearms, $152,000 worth of narcotics and $77,000 in cash. It has also identified three alleged gun traffickers who are now under a grand jury investigation.
Since January, the entire police department has taken 227 guns off the streets. In 2007, Metropolitan Police Department recovered nearly 3,000 guns, the most since 1997. A third of the firearms are found on people walking or driving D.C. streets, Lanier said.
By the numbers
Sunday raids:
» 31 guns, two body-armor vests, nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition
