PA Bill Number: SR77
Title: A Concurrent Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States to call a Convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the ...
Description: A Concurrent Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States to call a Convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the ...
Last Action: Reported as committed
Last Action Date: Apr 30, 2024
DOD, service weapons missing from local departments :: 11/12/2014
CHP, Stanislaus Co., Stockton among agencies under fire! The weapons belong to local and statewide police departments and sheriff's offices.
Watch report: Weapons go missing from local law enforcement agencies
The Stockton Police Department is one of those agencies. It had to make changes to its protocol after an audit found two M-16 rifles were missing.
The rifles are part of the Department of Defense's 1033 program, which loans weapons and military surplus equipment to law enforcement.
As a result of losing the two M-16 rifles, Stockton’s access to the program was suspended.
The department also made some major changes to how Stockton police handle their weapons.
The former military weapons now have individual gun locks, and they are kept in one armory and assigned to specific officers who have to check into the department's armory before taking off to patrol the streets.
But Stockton isn’t alone when it comes to getting its Department of Defense program suspended.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department was also suspended when the agency was unable to locate two M-16 rifles.
"It should never have happened," Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said. "It’s embarrassing and it’s disappointing, but nevertheless, we’re all human beings. We make mistakes."
Christianson said he thinks the weapons are missing due to a paperwork error -- or that they were kept by retirees, and therefore, did not end up on the streets.
"These are not weapons that were stolen from a vehicle or stolen from a residence," Christianson said. "We believe that they’re still in the hands of, of peace officers."
The Napa Police Department also had its program suspended after an officer took an M-16 home to clean it, left the rifle in his pickup truck and later realized the weapon was missing after he was called out to assist a SWAT team.
The California Highway Patrol was suspended because an officer in the Los Angeles division had an M-16 and five other weapons stolen when he took the guns home for the night.
CHP weapons trainer Rob Spartalis said the agency has since created restrictions on where officers can store their weapons.
"Accountability is our top priority," California Office of Emergency Services spokesperson Kelly Huston said. "They need to know where the guns are, where the cars are, where the helicopters are. They need to know where this gear is, because it’s still federal property."
The state OES is in charge of policing the police when it comes to weapons loaned by the federal government. If the weapons are lost, the agencies are suspended and cut off from the free equipment in the future.
However, records obtained by KCRA 3's investigative unit show there are more missing weapons that aren't tracked by the Department of Defense's 1033 program.
KCRA 3 obtained reports from local departments for how many weapons were lost or stolen.
In addition to the two missing rifles, there were 13 Glock handguns missing from Stanislaus County.
The Glocks are service weapons, owned by the department, but only two of those were reported stolen.
Christianson said his department can’t find the records for the weapons because the record-keeping system was lost due to computer problems.
"Our inventory controls were deficient," Christianson said. "We had all of those records on a computer, one computer in the department’s armory -- and you know, you never expect the hard drive failed. But it did and the records weren't backed up on our network."
The list of suspended agencies also includes the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department and the Sacramento division of the CHP.
CHP records indicate out of 23,500 weapons tracked within the Patrol, 49 weapons were reported stolen statewide since 2008.
Most of the weapons were stolen from officers' homes or cars. Nine of those 49 weapons were later recovered.
"Obviously, officers are required to follow our policies whether it's a personal weapon, (an) off-duty (weapon), or a departmental weapon on-duty," Spartalis said. "And of course in the academy, we have extensive training and we train them in the proper storage of weapons."
But for people like Christina Arechiga, unanswered questions remain.
Her cousin, Ernest Duenez, was shot by a Manteca police officer in June 2011. She has since been organizing campaigns seeking greater civilian oversight of police.
"The guns that we issue them come with responsibility," Arechiga said. "Their badges come with responsibility. And, you know, because we haven't been holding these people accountable, we have lost all accountability in law enforcement."
Christianson said the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department is holding itself accountable.
"So, what do you do when you identify mistakes (you) made?" Christianson said. "You admit to them, and you take corrective action, and that's exactly what we've done."
Like other agencies with missing weapons, Christianson said all of his department's unaccounted guns have been entered into a federal missing gun registry.
This will notify officials if the weapons are found. Police departments, sheriff's offices and CHP offices across the state are hoping the weapons don’t turn up in crime scenes.
"Our main concern is obviously safety of the public (and) safety of our officers," Spartalis said. "We would hate for a weapon to be stolen and used against an officer in one of these instances, or, god forbid, used against someone in the commission of a crime."
http://www.kcra.com/news/investigates/dod-service-weapons-missing-from-local-departments/29641424
